


We Can Turn Over and Start Again

by kyrdwyn



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, I Don't Know Where This Is Going, Into the Star Wars rabbit hole I go, Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-03-18
Packaged: 2018-09-20 20:51:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 36,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9514853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyrdwyn/pseuds/kyrdwyn
Summary: After Scarif, Jyn starts over, with a new mission, and an unexpected friend.





	1. Nothing Left for Her Now

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know quite where this is going, but it's going somewhere.
> 
> Also, the timing between the Battle of Scarif and the Battle of Yavin that I use is based on my own thoughts about the events of "A New Hope" and how long it would have taken. I haven't seen any official timeline yet.
> 
> Title from "Tell Me It's Not True," the finale song from the musical "Blood Brothers", which I saw 20 years ago in the West End and fell in love with the music.

_6 Months after Scarif_

She was in a little shop on some Outer Rim planet when she saw it, stuffed in a corner. Glancing around, she saw the shop owner was deep in conversation with a Twi'lek, so she moved to examine the object better. A shop assistant approached her, and she asked oblique questions, looking more curious than interested.

But when she was haggling for the parts needed to fix her ship, and getting overcharged by at least four times, she shrugged and looked at the owner. "Throw in the KX unit and we'll call it a deal."

The Rodian blinked at her for a few minutes, no doubt calculating the cost. He finally nodded. After all, he was still getting more than all the items were worth, just not what he'd been trying to shill her for.

But Jyn Erso didn't care, as she loaded her parts and the non-functioning KX unit onto her ship. She had what she needed.

* * *

_1 Day after Scarif_

The first few hours after arriving on Yavin IV after Scarif were a blur. She'd been hurried into a separate treatment room from Cassian, considering his injuries were much more critical than hers. The droids and doctors had eventually had to sedate her after she'd fought them too hard to get back to his side. They'd kept her under until the next day, as she had, according to the droid, kept fighting them.

"He's still in treatment."

Jyn turned her head to see Mon Mothma standing in the doorway of her room. The woman came forward, her face carefully neutral. "Captain Andor's injuries were extensive, so he will be in treatment for a while. You are welcome to stay on our base until he awakens, if you wish."

Jyn nodded. She didn't want to leave, not until she knew if Cassian was okay. They'd already lost the others, Bodhi, Chirrut, Baze, Kaytoo, Melshi, the other soldiers that had volunteered. She and Cassian had found an Imperial shuttle on one of the landing platforms and had stolen it, getting off Scarif just before the Death Star had fired.

"The plans?" she asked now.

Mon Mothma sighed. "They were received by Admiral Raddus, but when his ship was disabled, they were transferred to another vessel. That vessel, from what we can tell, was taken prisoner by the Empire."

"So it was all for nothing," Jyn said bitterly, thinking of the dead.

"No. There is hope, the Empire is still looking for the plans, from what we can determine. They may be returned to us."

Jyn said nothing. She didn't think there was anything to say.

"If you'd like, I can take you to your temporary quarters on base," the Alliance head of state said. "The doctors have cleared you to leave medical. Someone will let you know when Captain Andor is awake."

"Thank you," Jyn said automatically as she slid off the bed and stood.

The walk wasn't long. Mon Mothma pressed in a code that Jyn easily saw and memorized, and stood back to let Jyn in. "We'll talk later," she said. "Get some rest."

Jyn nodded and entered the room, letting the door close behind her. She looked around, startled that it didn't appear to be an unused room. There was a holodisk on the bedside table, though it wasn't active, and a datapad on the bed. She peeked into the closet, seeing men's clothing hanging there. Not much, just uniforms, one set of casual clothing. She pulled out the uniform jacket and paused as she saw the rank plaque. Two green pips, the same as Cassian's. She looked around the room again, then grabbed the datapad.

The encryption was ridiculously easy to slice, but when she saw the single open message, she sank onto the bed, fighting tears.

_Cassian. There is a high probability that this mission will end in the death of everyone. However, I estimate there is a higher probability that your life may be spared by my death, and if that happens, then I will sacrifice myself for you. As I know this may distress you, I have backed up my entire programming and memories to this datapad. If you are able to upload me into a new body, please do not put me in a protocol droid. Those bodies are far too limited, and far too annoying. K-2SO._

Swallowing hard, Jyn set the datapad down. Kaytoo had preserved himself, at least as he was before they left for Scarif. The look on Cassian's face when Kaytoo had locked them in the vault and said his farewells had been devastating, the look of a man who had lost his best friend. She'd seen it on soldiers in Saw's cadre when their battle brothers went down. Kaytoo had known, and had made sure that Cassian could bring back his friend.

"You are constantly surprising, Kaytoo," she murmured aloud, curling up on Cassian's bed, the datapad in reach. Feeling a bit safer, on Cassian's bed, with Kaytoo nearby, even in datapad form, Jyn finally unwound enough to sleep.

* * *

_6 Months after Scarif_

Fixing the ship had been easy, even with the low quality, overpriced parts. That had gotten her off that planet and to her most reliable hiding place in the mid-rim. Now, she had a few days before she had to figure out how to get another run of something to earn credits.

So she had time to work on the KX droid the Rodian had sold her.

"I hope you appreciate this," she said aloud to the empty room. The droid lying on the bench seat in the small passenger area of her ship didn't respond. Not that she had turned it on yet. First, she had to clear out all the programming that the Empire and Arakyd Industries had put into it - which meant a lot of hacking, as these droids were meant to be security. They had to be more protected against what Jyn was trying to do. "How Cassian managed to do this in the first place, I don't know," she muttered as she encountered yet another firewall.

It took her ten hours to get the programming cleared and the information from the datapad uploaded into the KX body. Jyn activated the unit then moved quickly to the other side of the area, her blaster in one hand, the other hand wrapped around her kyber crystal.

The droid jerked, eyes flashing as it started up, processing its programming. The head turned to one side, then the other, focusing on Jyn.

"Jyn Erso."

"Kaytoo."

"Why are holding that blaster as if you wish to shoot me?"

"Because I didn't know if the upload would take?"

His eyes flickered, and he looked around the ship. "I do not recognize this ship. Where is Cassian?"

Jyn swallowed. "There's a lot that's happened."

He looked at her again. "I am sure there is."

* * *

_3 Days after Scarif_

Jyn had only left Cassian's quarters to get some food from the mess hall, and even then, only when she was sure it would be relatively empty. She didn't want to see the faces of those who had known the dead. Those that grieved their friends. Those that might ask her why she had survived when their loved ones hadn't.

She was wondering that herself.

Cassian was still in the infirmary, no change in his condition. She had ventured down there once, and had been turned away by one of the droids, who had at least told her there had been no change. Other than that, she stayed in his quarters, playing with the datapad, learning what she could about restoring Kaytoo. If the Rebellion could find another KX series droid, then maybe they could get Cassian's best friend back. She'd also, at Mon Mothma and General Draven's request, written up a report on Scarif, at least what she knew that had happened. 

It was late into the night, when she was thinking of getting some sleep, when she felt something go through the base. She stopped, hearing cries of denial, of loss. She pulled up the Rebellion coms on the datapad, looking for any announcement that might cause such grief. No one knew she had this datapad, Cassian's datapad, so she got access to anything unclassified that he would have seen.

There was one general announcement, and her heart felt like it stopped as she read it.

_Alderaan destroyed by the Death Star._

Jyn choked back a cry.

They'd failed.

* * *

_6 Months after Scarif_

"The plans got out." It wasn't a question. Kaytoo sounded certain.

"You told us to climb, locked the vault doors, and sacrificed yourself so Cassian could escape," Jyn told him, moving around her ship, idly straightening things that weren't out of place. She'd holstered the blaster, but she couldn't sit and look at him as she talked. "Cassian... he was devastated by it. But he carried on. We climbed the tower, got the tape, and stared to climb the rest of the way to the top when Krennic appeared. Cassian fired at him, taking the troopers with him out. But Krennic's blasts got him, and he fell, hitting some of the support beams on the way down. I thought...." she stopped again. "I thought he was dead," she finally whispered.

Kaytoo was silent for a moment. "You _thought_ he was dead. Meaning he wasn't."

Jyn shook her head. "No, he wasn't. But I didn't know that. I kept climbing, got up to the antenna, and got the tape installed and the antenna realigned to the send the signal. But Krennic appeared again, going to shoot me. But Cassian did before I could. I have no idea how he managed to get up from that fall and climb to the top of the tower, but," she broke off with a laughing sob. "To save the Rebellion, I guess he would come back from the near dead." She wiped at her eyes. "The plans were transmitted, but the Death Star was coming. We headed down the tower, to die on the beach or something, when the elevator stopped at the landing platform, and Krennic's shuttle was there. So we took it and escaped. Back to Yavin, the only two survivors of Scarif. When I was out of the infirmary, they stuck me in Cassian's quarters while I waited for news of him, and that's when I found your datapad."

"That doesn't answer why you have it, and why you are the one reinstalling me, instead of Cassian."

Jyn stared at the wall, not wanting to relive that day.

* * *

_4 days after Scarif_

She didn't look up as the door to her quarters - Cassian's quarters - opened. She just continued to stare at the bed.

"Miss Erso."

That voice caused her to look up. General Draven stood in the doorway, a blank look on his face. Like Cassian's all too casual expression. "General," she replied.

He hesitated. "I'm sorry. Captain Andor..." he trailed off.

Time seemed to stop as she stared at him. "He didn't..."

"No. I'm sorry."

Her eyes dropped to the bed again. Cassian was gone. Cassian, Bodhi, Chirrut, Baze, Galen, Saw, Sefla, Melshi... the line of her recent dead kept growing. The ghosts that haunted her added one more to their number.

"There's no reason for me to stay, then," she said softly.

The general was silent for a moment, then finally replied. "If that's what you want."

She looked up at that. "It's clear you don't trust me. No one here does. I couldn't even make sure the plans got back to the Rebellion. What point is there to saying here?"

"We have a ship that we can have outfitted for you."

She looked up at him. "At what price?"

Draven gave her a small smile then. "We'll give you a code name, you'll give us whatever information you can run across. Maybe transport some people if needed. You wouldn't be a full member of the Alliance, but you'd be able to help, in between doing whatever you want to do for credits."

"So, your unofficial spy and cargo pilot," she said. It wouldn't be the worst thing she'd done. She'd still be fighting for what her father and Saw had fought for, what Cassian had fought for.

What they'd all died for.

"Fine, but Jyn Erso has to die," she said. "I'm too well known, in any of my aliases. Help me scrub clean, fresh start, and I'll be your girl," she told Draven.

He nodded. "Your ship is ready now, and my slicers can have the rest done by the time you land on your first mission." When she raised an eyebrow at him, he shrugged. "We have some people to transport off Yavin. This seems as good a time as any. We'll meet you in the landing bay in thirty minutes." He let himself out, and Jyn looked around the room. She grabbed a bag and stuffed the datapad with Kaytoo's backup into it. She grabbed one of Cassian's jackets and a blaster that she had found in his closet as well. The holodisk on his bedside table was a blank one, she'd found when she'd idly tried it. She thought about leaving a message for the next person that had this room, but stopped. There was no point.

Shouldering the bag, she headed out. There was nothing left for her in the Rebellion.

* * *

_6 Months after Scarif_

Kaytoo had gone silent when Jyn recounted her leaving Yavin, and what had followed with the Death Star being destroyed before it could destroy the Rebel base. One of her contacts had talked of a Tatooine farm boy and a smuggler who had rescued the plans and Princess Leia from the Death Star itself, the farm boy taking the million to one shot to blow the reactor, just as Jyn's father had planned for.

But she hadn't been there to see it, and she had tried to spend as little time as she could on a Rebel base in the six months since.

Jyn left Kaytoo to consider everything and went back into the cockpit, tapping into the Rebellion channels she checked for her orders. There was a new set for Guardian, her code name. Draven wanted her to head to the old base at Yavin IV and pick up an Alliance officer that was stranded there, and convey him to the current Rebel base. She grimaced. She hated runs like this. Mostly because the last two times she'd done officer transport, it had meant an overnight stay. She hated being on Rebel bases.

Even now, they still reminded her of Cassian.

Quickly, she tapped back an answer on the encrypted line. She had yet to turn down a mission, and she didn't see a reason to start now. She'd just make Draven refuel her ship for having to make her visit Yavin IV again.

"Are we leaving?" Kaytoo asked from the doorway to the cockpit.

"Yes. The Alliance has a mission for us."

"For you," he said. "They don't know that you have restored me."

"No, they don't," Jyn said.

"When will you tell them?"

She turned in the seat to look at him. "Whenever you want me to."

Kaytoo regarded her. "I don't understand."

Jyn sighed. "I brought you back because... because I didn't want to be the only person who remembered those that died on Scarif. But I can't force you to do anything, Kay. If you want to go back to the Alliance, that's fine. If you'd rather go somewhere else, that's fine. You're not a prisoner."

"The odds of my successfully being able to survive outside of either your company or the Alliances are less than five percent. I do not find that encouraging," Kaytoo said. "But I find the option of returning to the Alliance without Cassian there to be less than pleasing."

"I understand," she said. "I couldn't stay myself."

"You are running Alliance missions and potentially running contraband in Imperial territory. The odds of you needing backup are high. I will provide that backup."

The lofty announcement made Jyn smile. "Then welcome aboard the _Rook_ , Kaytoo."


	2. A Wedge in the Works

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"I am on the memorial?" Kaytoo asked, sounding as surprised as a droid could._

**2 years after Scarif**

Wedge Antilles hurried through the landing bays on Kafrene. He'd arrived a few days before to meet with a former Imperial acquaintance that had been making some noises about defecting. Unfortunately for Wedge, he was just trolling for other defectors and potential to turn over to the Empire. Wedge had been lucky to get out without the Empire finding him, spending his time hiding out until his backup extraction plan arrived.

He checked the number on the landing bay, moving past it. He'd been told before he left that the Alliance was sending someone to Kafrene to be available if he couldn't leave by his original plan. A ship called the _Rook_ and a pilot friendly to Alliance interests. He knew the landing bay number where it was docked, but he had to reach it without the Stormtroopers finding him first and detaining him. He gave a sardonic smile. Hoth might be as cold as Darth Vader's heart, but at least it was a tad bit safer than Imperial hospitality.

He rounded the corner to the bay and stepped back just as quickly. Outside the ship was a KX class security droid, watching everyone who went by. There wasn't an insignia on the shoulder that he could see, but only the Empire used such droids. He'd only known one that had been re-programmed, and K-2SO had been lost in the Battle of Scarif.

He waited a few moments, then peered around the corner. The KX droid must have had moved on, as it was no longer visible. Instead a short woman stood at the end of the cargo ramp, glaring at a datapad. Wedge took a deep breath and casually moved over, hoping she was Gaila Theron, the captain of the _Rook_.

"How much to transport a womp rat?" he asked as he approached, cursing Luke's sense of humor in the pass phrase, and the general's in allowing it.

"Depends, does he need to make it alive?" the woman asked, not looking up from her datapad. The response was correct, so Wedge continued.

"My friend would prefer alive. There's too much paperwork if he's dead."

She finally looked up at that, giving Wedge a small smile. "But the smell is so much better." When Wedge returned her smile, she jerked her head at the interior of the ship. "I think something can be arranged. Care to talk aboard?"

Relieved, Wedge nodded, following Gaila into the ship. Once they were both inside, her smile faded as she hit the button to close the ramp, yelling out to the cockpit, "We're cleared for departure."

"Did you retrieve the cargo?" a somewhat familiar voice asked. The KX droid appeared at the cockpit door, and Wedge jumped, handing going for his blaster. "Oh, Captain Antilles. I did not expect you to be our cargo."

"You know him?" Gaila asked, heading past a stunned Wedge to the droid.

"He was an X-wing pilot in the Red Squadron of the Alliance. I'm assuming he still is, if we've been sent to retrieve him."

Wedge blinked. "K-2SO?" he asked, unable to believe this.

"That is my designation," Kaytoo replied. "Oh, but you probably thought I had been lost at Scarif."

"We all thought that!" Wedge said as he followed Gaila. "You're on the Alliance memorial with all the other members of Rogue One and the Alliance that didn't make it back."

"I am on the memorial?" Kaytoo asked, sounding as surprised as a droid could.

"You deserve to be there," Gaila said softly from where she now sat in the pilot's seat. "Better strap in, though, we're taking off."

Kaytoo moved to the co-pilot's chair, and Wedge took the seat that usually belonged to the navigator on a cargo freighter like this. It wasn't nearly as big as the _Millenium Falcon_ but it was larger than he had expected. Gaila and Kaytoo handled it expertly, and he wondered how long they'd been together. How long Kaytoo had been back.

Why he hadn't gone back to the Rebellion.

Once they were out of atmosphere, Gaila finished her calculations and sent the ship into hyperspace. "We're taking an indirect route to ensure you're not being followed, with a stop or two along the way." She got up from her seat. "You've got controls, Kay. I'm going to check on the cargo for our next stop." She disappeared quickly into the rest of the ship, leaving Kaytoo and Wedge alone.

Wedge moved up to the pilot's seat, but didn't take over controls. "She's not exactly friendly."

Kaytoo turned, his eyes whirring. "Some of her past interactions with the Alliance have not ended well. I believe she prefers to maintain her distance when she can, to prevent pain."

"So why does she work for us then? I mean, she had to agree to pick me up on Kafrene." Wedge understood that the Rebellion had caused pain for people, even people in the Empire who were just trying to live, but most of the time, they wanted nothing to do with Rebellion.

"Her reasons are her own. All I know is she does help out the Alliance, and therefore as long as she needs assistance, I will provide it."

"And you don't plan on returning to the Alliance itself?"

The droid was silent for a while. "Not while she needs me," he finally said. "I made a promise."

Wedge nodded, understanding that. They sat there for a while, silent, watching hyperspace. Wedge wanted to ask how Kaytoo had gotten off Scarif, who had rescued him from the destroyed body that had been implied in the after-action reports on Scarif, and gotten him into this new body. If that person had insisted that Kaytoo stay with Gaila.

But he didn't want to be too intrusive. Gaila and Kaytoo were doing him a favor, and he didn't need her to decide to kick him out in the middle of hyperspace, Alliance be damned. Luke might be able to survive with his Jedi powers or something, but Wedge was pretty sure he wouldn't.

A few hours later, a light began flashing on the console. Kaytoo reached out and pressed it, then called out. "We will be emerging from hyperspace near Takodana soon. Do you want to take controls, or should I allow Captain Antilles to handle the transfer?"

"If he wants to earn his keep on this run, and he thinks he can handle the _Rook_ , let him. Just keep an eye on him," Gaila called back.

Wedge blinked, then turned to the console, taking the controls. He'd flown cargo ships before, and this was pretty similar to those. "Why do I get the feeling she's only letting me fly because you vouched for me?" He asked.

"Because that is the only reason she would let someone other than me fly the _Rook_ ," Kaytoo responded. "You should feel honored. You are the only person other than me that she has let fly the _Rook_." He paused. "If you crash, it will likely be the last thing you ever fly."

"Good to know," Wedge said as he prepped for re-emergence into normal space. He watched the navicomputer carefully, and when the time was right, he pulled the lever to bring them out of hyperspace near Takodana. The planet appeared below them, and he grinned, loving the sight of a planet surrounded by stars.

The _Rook_ handled differently than his X-wing, but it wasn't difficult to fly as he approached the planet. Kaytoo indicated the landing coordinates, and Wedge headed that way, letting Kaytoo assist with the landing. They touched down carefully, but firmly, on the planet.

"Hm. You can live," Gaila said from behind him. He turned to see her standing by the empty chair, arms crossed over her chest.

"Thank you," Wedge said with a nod. "She's a good ship."

"He is," she said. Wedge blinked at the use of the male pronoun for the ship - most pilots he knew used "she", but Gaila had already turned to Kaytoo. "Keep him here out of sight," she said. "I don't trust some of the other ships we saw parked. A few Imperial sympathizers and bounty hunters that would probably love to get their hands on an Imperial defector turned hotshot Rebellion pilot."

"You will need help moving the cargo. Unless you are going to allow beings other than Maz onto the ship." Kaytoo stared at Gaila.

"I'll call when I do." She left the cockpit, and Wedge turned to Kaytoo.

"She keeps up on who's who in the Rebellion?"

Kaytoo said nothing, just looked out the viewport. Wedge took the hint and stayed silent. He heard the cargo door open, and Gaila talking to someone. After several minutes, Gaila called for Kaytoo, who turned back to Wedge just before he left. "Stay here," he said. "It is not safe for you to be seen with us."

"For me or you?" he asked under his breath as Kaytoo left. The droid didn't respond, and Wedge occupied himself with checking the ship's systems, making sure they were in working order. He made note of a few that could use a tune up when they got to Hoth. He'd tell the general that they should at least offer to help fix up the _Rook_ , given that Gaila was helping the Rebellion. Maybe they could change her mind a bit on keeping her distance from the Rebellion.

"Maz..." Gaila's voice, sounding a little exasperated, interrupted his musings. She was near the cockpit, but not visible from the door. Nor was the person she was speaking to.

"Child," another voice, sounding slightly older, replied. "It's time you should go back home."

"Home's been gone for a long time, Maz. The _Rook_ is home now."

"The _Rook_ is where you live, child, but home is someone else."

Gaila sighed, and her voice went soft, sorrowful. "He's been gone for years, Maz. Gave his life for the Rebellion. We never had a chance to see if it could be anything between us. That's not enough to keep me in the Rebellion. I'll fly for them when I have to, for him, but that's it."

The other person sighed. "Trust the Force, child. You know, in your heart, that things are not what you think."

"He's gone, Maz, and nothing is going to bring him back."

"Is he? Your droid was gone and he was brought back."

"You can't back up a human being. Please, Maz, leave me alone. I'm surviving, I'm helping the Rebellion; I don't know what else you want from me."

"I want you to stop running."

"Not going to happen." Footsteps echoed as Gaila walked away. Someone sighed and followed, and Wedge wondered who Gaila had lost.

But he didn't ask as they finished offloading the cargo. He moved to the navigator seat as the cargo ramp closed and Kaytoo and Gaila came into the cockpit. Gaila's shoulders were stiff and she wore a carefully blank expression as she started up the _Rook_.

Whoever she had lost, whether or not she had been involved with him, the loss clearly had scarred her, even as it kept her on the fringes of the Rebellion, to stay close to a memory.

He wondered if she would have stayed, joined the Rebellion, if this person had lived.

* * *

Kaytoo finished the calculations for the hyperdrive jump to their next destination, the last before Hoth, and let Jyn know. He did call her Gaila, as he did when others were around. When they were alone in the ship, he called her Jyn. He thought she liked the use of her given name, of someone remembering her.

The past eighteen months had been... pleasant. Jyn was not Cassian, was not the person who had accepted him immediately upon reprogramming him, but she clearly had grown to accept him before Scarif. He knew that she had brought him back because she didn't want to be the only person who had memories of everyone who died at Scarif. He understood. She and Kaytoo were the ones who had interacted the most with Bodhi Rook, Chirrut Îmwe, and Baze Malbus. While a few Rebels might remember them from being around the base, Jyn and Kaytoo had more memories of them. 

And then there was Cassian.

It had taken them a while to really speak of the dead. At the start, it had been too raw for Jyn, and even he had needed time to properly process the facts. But now, they could speak of Bodhi, Chirrut, and Baze. And Cassian, though Jyn's reactions to him were more visceral than the others, and it had taken longer for her to be able to speak of him. Kaytoo had seen the looks that Cassian and Jyn had exchanged during their missions, and he figured that if Cassian had survived, there was an 89.5 percent chance that he and Jyn would have become intimate, with a 78.2 percent chance of it lasting. 

But without Cassian, Jyn Erso couldn't see herself as part of the Rebellion. Not even when she had been invited to return, approximately eight months before.

_"All the Rebellion has done is brought me pain, Kay. I've lost almost everyone I cared about to it. My father, Saw, now Cassian and the others. You, even, though you managed to ensure you could return. I don't see what going back does for me." She refused to look at him, instead watching the stars streak by in hyperspace as they headed to Bespin on a cargo run._

_"Cassian thought you had a place there." His discussion with Cassian when the intelligence officer was recruiting for the Scarif mission had made that clear._

_"Well, General Draven didn't, and once Cassian was gone, I wasn't going to argue with him." Jyn sighed, turning from the console. "Kay, if you want to go back to the Rebellion, I won't stop you. It was your home for many years." It wasn't the first time she had made the offer. Kay calculated for a moment, then looked out the window._

_"As I have said before, the odds of you surviving without assistance are not optimal. I will not return to the Rebellion unless you also return. As you are not inclined to return, I will remain with you."_

_Movement caught his optical array's attention, and he turned to see tears glide down Jyn's cheeks, but she said nothing for several moments. He was about to offer to have his memories of the last few minutes wiped, if it would assist in Jyn maintaining her dignity, an offer he'd once made to Cassian, when Jyn looked at him with a small smile. "Thank you, Kay," she said sincerely. "I wouldn't want any other droid at my side."_

_"Of course you wouldn't," Kay said, turning back to the console. "I am unique after all."_

_Jyn's chuckle of laughter pleased his auditory sensors._

Kaytoo was brought out of his memory replay by the proximity alarm. He shifted course abruptly, and the _Rook_ narrowly missed an Imperial cruiser that dropped out of hyperspace. The comm system crackled to life as a warning shot fired across their bow. "Cargo Vessel _Rook_ , you are harboring an Imperial defector. Shut down your engines and prepare to be boarded."

"Over my dead body," Jyn muttered. "How did they know... Kay, scan Captain Antilles while I get us into hyperspace."

Kaytoo turned to the Rebellion pilot, who was looking shaken. "How did they find us?" he asked.

Picking up a scanner, Kay aimed it at Captain Antilles and started the scan. "Gaila suspects you have a tracker on you."

"How? This is what I wore when I left the Rebel base, and they didn't give me any trackers."

The scanner beeped even as the _Rook_ shuddered under a glancing hit from the Imperial ship. "Nevertheless, you have a tracker on you. On the back of your jacket, left side." Kaytoo made a note to upgrade his internal scanners when he could, so that this could not happen again. It would be better to be able to scan someone before they set foot on this ship.

He could not be this careless, not and keep his promise.

* * *

When Kaytoo announced where the tracker was, Wedge immediately pulled off his jacket and flipped it around. "I don't--" he stopped as his hand, running over the jacket, found a patch barely bigger a finger, nearly the same color as his jacket, looking to anyone like he'd just patched a hole. But it wasn't. "How do we destroy it?" he asked.

"We don't, yet," Gaila replied, "Kay, alert the Alliance to what's happening. See if they want us to lead a false trail and if so, to where. I'm resetting our course," she added as she dodged another blast from the Imperial ship. "We're heading for Tatooine if they want to pick our next target after that."

Kaytoo turned to the communications panel and typed in the message. Wedge glanced over Gaila's shoulder at the hyperspace calculations, running them in his head out of habit. They looked good.

"Message ready to send," Kaytoo announced.

Gaila banked the ship, headed for the Imperial cruiser, and ducked under it in a move that Wedge was surprised to see this class of cargo ship be capable of. Under the ship, she pulled the lever and the star field stretched, turning into the streaks of hyperspace.

"Wait three minutes, then send it," Gaila told Kaytoo. "We don't want them intercepting it, or thinking we even sent one."

"Acknowledged."

Wedge looked down at his jacket, waiting until Kaytoo had sent the message to say anything. "They'll track this as soon as we drop out of hyperspace. I'm surprised they didn't find us sooner."

Gaila didn't look at him. "If Draven is on the ball, he'll have a place for us to lead them, and we'll either ditch the tracker at a fake Rebel base, or we'll meet up with part of the Rebel fleet, and they can deal with the cruiser."

Wedge nodded, thinking it was a sound strategy, then paused. "Wait, General Draven?"

"Head of Alliance Intelligence," Kaytoo said. "He is the one who requests our assistance on missions."

Wedge looked between them. "General Draven was killed when his ship was destroyed in the evacuation of a Rebel base, about eight months ago," he said, looking at Kaytoo.

The droid looked back, optical array shifting. Gaila turned to him as well, her eyes dark with anger. "Then who's running Intelligence?"

"Our lines of communication don't appear to have been compromised," Kaytoo said. "The Empire wouldn't have let us pick up Captain Antilles at all if they were able to intercept or direct our movements."

"No, I was told in person, before I left, that the asset code-named Guardian would be picking me up from Kafrene if there was an issue and I couldn't get back the usual way," Wedge said.

"Told by who?" Gaila asked, still angry. Wedge blinked at her, not quite understanding it.

"The current head of Alliance Intelligence," he told her. "General Cassian Andor."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my goodness, thanks to all who commented and kudo'd! I was not expecting that much of a reaction. I'm glad you're all enjoying this.
> 
> It's also been a while since I've read a lot of the Legends Universe, so Wedge is based on the movies and my own hazy memories, and what I needed him to be for this chapter.


	3. Chasing Guardian

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"Tell me about Guardian," she said instead, taking a seat across from him._

"Sir, incoming transmission from Guardian."

Cassian looked up from the star charts that he and Luke Skywalker were using to plot out recon missions for new bases, if the Empire found Hoth. A private entered the room, holding out a datapad. Cassian took the pad and dismissed the private, not wanting to have this conversation overheard if the news wasn't good.

He unlocked the text file of Guardian's message. Guardian preferred encrypted text to audio, though Draven's few notes on the asset didn't indicate why. Those notes also lacked Guardian's real name or identity. Then again, Draven had run the asset himself. Not even Cassian, recovering from his injuries on Scarif and promoted as Draven's second in command, had worked with Guardian. Draven had let Cassian run most other assets, but Guardian had been his alone.

Of course, once Draven had died, all assets became Cassian's upon his promotion to the head of Alliance Intelligence.

"Wedge?" Luke asked now, his eyes showing concern for his friend and fellow Rogue Squadron pilot.

"He's alive," Cassian reassured him. "But the Empire put a tracker on him before he left Kafrene, and a ship nearly caught them leaving Takodana. Guardian must have stopped there on a cargo run." He frowned at the screen. "They're now en route to Tatooine, and requesting instructions."

"Good thing they didn't come straight here," Luke replied. "Guardian is smart. But Tatooine is a ways from Takodana."

"And far from Hoth." He turned to the star charts and pulled up the sectors of space in question. "Guardian and Wedge are being smart, not going anywhere near our base with the Empire on their trail. Presuming they didn't destroy the tracker..." Cassian trailed off, thinking. Guardian's ship was a cargo vessel, nothing fast or flashy. The rebel fleet, or at least a portion of it, could make it to any rendezvous point before Guardian did, be waiting for the Imperial ship, and any friends it might have. He turned to the door. "We need to talk to Rieekan."

"We are getting Wedge back, right?" Luke followed him out of the tiny office and into the main war room. Rieekan and Princess Leia were standing to one side, discussing something on a screen that Cassian couldn't see. Threepio and Artoo were nearby. Artoo whistled a greeting when he saw Cassian and Luke.

"We are going to try," Cassian told the commander before stepping up to General Rieekan and Leia.

"General Andor," the princess said, a small smile on her face. "You have news?"

He handed her and Rieekan the datapad. They both read it, faces turning grim.

"You trust this Guardian?" Rieekan said. "I don't recall hearing about this asset from General Draven."

"General Draven recruited Guardian and ran them personally. I've found Guardian to be reliable, if a bit impersonal, since I took over. They've never let me down yet, and I don't see a reason to discount this. Not with a pilot's life on the line."

"What are you wanting to do?" Leia asked.

"Have the fleet, or at least part of it, meet them at Dantooine. Destroy the Imperial ship, bring Guardian and Wedge back to Hoth."

"I'm guessing Rogue Squadron would prefer to rescue their fellow pilot?" Leia asked, looking at Luke with a small smile.

"If allowed, yes, we'd be ready." Luke looked eager to get out there, despite his careful tone.

"It's dangerous," Rieekan said. "If they have more than one tracker on Captain Antilles, or Guardian, then that could still lead them back here."

"But the fleet scanners can make sure they're clean before bringing them back here. We can't afford to lose good pilots, general," Cassian said. "Any more than we can afford to lose good assets."

Rieekan looked down at the datapad again, clearly thinking. "All right. Contact Admiral Ackbar, have him take a small group, not the entire fleet, to Dantooine, to meet Guardian and the Empire. Rogue Squadron, go with them for support."

"Yes, sir," Luke said.

Cassian nodded. "Thank you, sir."

"General, make sure they know to bring Guardian back here. It's time we met this asset, if they're going to continue working for us. I don't like having an Alliance pilot in an unknown's hands."

"Agreed, General." Cassian hurried back to his office to contact Ackbar, as Luke and Artoo went to get Rogue squadron up and ready to fly.

After briefing Ackbar on the mission, and the importance of bringing both Wedge and Guardian back to Hoth, Cassian eased himself back into his chair, wincing at the pain that shot through his left leg and back. He'd been standing too long, first with Luke and then making plans. Hoth's frigid temperatures did nothing for his injuries from Scarif. He had healed, thanks to a lot of bacta and a few surgeries, but he'd still spent months in recovery and physical therapy. He no longer needed assistance to walk, however the spinal injuries from hitting the support beams in the data tower would always be vulnerable to re-injury. Even before the doctors had said anything, Cassian had known that his days in the field were done.

"Should I call for a med droid?" a concerned voice asked.

Cassian shook his head at Princess Leia. "Just the cold and my injuries. Nothing they can do for that but give me painkillers, and I don't like the ones they give me. I need to be able to think."

"The offer to transfer to a different base is still open, General." She leaned against the doorjamb, watching him.

"The Rebellion needs me here."

"The Rebellion needs you functioning, not in pain from the base's location," Leia said with humor. "At least think about it once this mission is over?"

"All right, I'll think about it." He knew what his answer would be, and he could see, by the way she shook her head, that she knew it too.

"Tell me about Guardian," she said instead, taking a seat across from him.

"Not much to tell. Guardian became active a few days before the Death Star was destroyed, took some of the higher command staff off Yavin to a backup location, just in case the Empire found our base. Guardian has been transmitting information, anything they think is useful, to us since then, as well as running the occasional job for us. Rescuing people, hauling cargo, things like that."

"You really don't know who they are?" Leia looked troubled.

"No. I've searched every bit of data, everything Draven left behind after his death. He was very careful about Guardian, not even the asset's species or gender is written down. I know the type of ship they have, and that's it. I was using this assignment, if needed, as a way to get to meet them. There hasn't been any other mission that would get them to a base in the past year." He gave her a wry smile. "When I took over Intelligence, I sent them an invitation to our base at the time, to discuss them joining the Rebellion permanently. They turned me down, said the current arrangement was quite adequate."

"I don't know that I like this," Leia said. "Still, we need all the friends we can get, even if they are 'impersonal' to you."

Cassian chuckled. "Here's hoping they won't be more impersonal once they meet me."

"I don't see how that's possible, General. Even Han likes you."

He grinned at the Alderaanian woman. " _Chewbacca_ likes me. Han, not so much. He seems to think I'm trying to steal the love of his life from him - the _Falcon_." Cassian wouldn't really steal it, but he wouldn't mind taking it for a spin around the star system. It was a hell of a ship for looking so run down.

Mostly, he missed flying. He missed his U-wing - and his co-pilot.

Leia's smile turned sympathetic. "If only Han knew your heart was taken."

"Yes, it is," Cassian said, looking down at his desk. They both knew that it wasn't a ship Leia was referring to.

After a few moments, Leia stood. "I'll contact you when the squadron arrives at Dantooine?"

He stood as well, hiding the wince. "Thank you, Your Highness."

"It's Leia," she said with an air of someone who had said it many times. And would again. 

She left and Cassian sat down, waiting until the door had shut behind her to pull out a holodisk from his desk. It was one that he had programmed, long ago, to look blank if you tried to access it like a normal holodisk. But if you knew the right trick, you could see the memories that Cassian Andor felt needed to be preserved. There were only two - one being a holo picture from his parent's wedding, before the Clone Wars and the Empire.

The other was a video from the war room on Yavin. He'd saved it, when prepping for the mission on Scarif. He didn't know why he had, considering at the time he figured the odds of them getting out of Scarif were low, but something in him wanted to preserve it. Now he was grateful for it.

It was the only recording he had of Jyn Erso.

He activated that file, seeing Jyn facing down the Alliance council, fire flashing in her green eyes as she strove to convince them that they needed to go to Scarif, get the plans, stop the Death Star. She had been right, but they hadn't been willing to listen.

He watched the recording until she left the room, then he stopped the disk and set it back in the drawer. Jyn Erso had left the Rebellion after Alderaan had been destroyed. Guilt, Draven had told him, that her father's work had anihilated an entire planet, that their mission had seemingly failed. Draven had also admitted that he'd wanted to get Jyn off the base for her safety, before those who were grieving their dead thought to take their pain out on her. After all, she had come back from the Scarif mission with minimal injuries, and that was likely to cause resentment.

But less than a week after she'd left Yavin, she'd been killed in a skirmish on Correllia. The Empire had gone after some smugglers at one of their space ports, and the ship she'd been on had been destroyed. When Cassian had found the report, he'd felt like someone had yanked the spark out of the universe. 

He was the only member of Rogue One left, and he wasn't sure why.

Not even Kay was left. The droid had generally backed up his programming and memories before major assignments, but the datapad had been missing by the time Cassian had been released from the infirmary, after the rebels had moved from Yavin to a new base. He didn't know how one of his uniform jackets had gone missing either, but chalked it up to young recruits packing up rooms in a hurry. But it still felt wrong that Kaytoo was just a name on the memorial wall (added by R2-D2, he learned later, and Cassian had thanked the little droid for his thoughtfulness).

Kaytoo being remembered as a hero of the Alliance didn't make him miss his friend any less, though. He could have used Kaytoo's dry observations throughout his recovery. He'd sometimes imagined the commentary that Kay could make, but it wasn't the same. Oddly enough Artoo would sometimes appear in the infirmary while Cassian was doing physical therapy, whistling encouragement and making rude noises if Cassian faltered. As if he somehow knew Cassian was missing a droid friend and needed the company.

Artoo might be the only entity on the base that knew how badly Cassian missed his friend.

But Jyn... he missed her in a different way. Missed her fire, her ferocity. The way she had pushed and challenged him. Even her vulnerability, when she'd confessed that she wasn't used to people sticking around when things went wrong. Her smile at his "welcome home," which had been the only thing he could say. He couldn't have kissed her there and then, not in front of everyone. 

In the elevator on Scarif, he'd watched her, ignoring his injuries. He'd wanted to kiss her, even if it was just once. At that point, he had felt they weren't going to make it. So there was nothing to stop him from kissing her, seeing if she felt as he did, having that one moment of closeness with her before the end.

But the elevator had opened on the landing pad, and the moment was gone in favor of a chance at survival. By the time he was recovered enough to ask about Jyn, it was too late.

He sighed. No use in relieving the past. Jyn was gone, Kaytoo and Bodhi and Chirrut and Baze and Melshi were gone. All he could do was go forward, try to make their sacrifices worth it. 

He pulled the datapad to him and began writing an update to Guardian and Wedge. _Guardian, proceed to Dantooine and rendezvous with fleet for retrieval and transport to Hoth for debriefing._

He braced himself on the desk to stand, then made his way to the secure communications room to send the encrypted message to Guardian.

As the message was sent, Cassian reflected that he was finally going to meet Draven's last secret. He just hoped Guardian was as trustworthy as they seemed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cassian got a little think-y on me at the end. 
> 
> I'm glad y'all are still enjoying this!


	4. Reliable Rebellion Sources

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"Rogue Leader to Rogue Two, report."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the day delay - but _Dirty Dancing_ was in theaters for it's 30th anniversary and I had to go.

_General Cassian Andor._

The phrase rang in Jyn's head, blocking out everything else. 

_General Cassian Andor._

"You are certain?" Kaytoo asked Wedge. "General Draven is dead?"

"Yeah, I was there when they promoted Commander Andor to General and named him head of the Intelligence division."

_General Cassian Andor._

"Kay, you have controls. Call me when we have a response to our message," Jyn said abruptly, getting up from her chair and walking past Wedge, not answering his questions. She forced herself to proceed calmly to her quarters, not wanting to give away her emotions. Not with Wedge on the _Rook_.

She shut the door behind her, staring across the small space. The ship had four small quarters for crew, each with a tiny 'fresher unit and a single bunk. She had one, Kaytoo had one of the others, and the remaining two were used by Rebellion officers she was transporting.

Officers that she had been transporting over the past eight months for _General Cassian Andor._

She crossed the room to the bunk and flipped the mattress up. In a small storage space underneath, she pulled out a familiar brown jacket that she had carefully folded into the space two years before and hugged it to her, sinking to the floor.

_General Cassian Andor._

Draven had lied. Cassian had survived, but he'd never told her. Nearly two years, and he hadn't said a word to her that Cassian was alive. 

And Cassian hadn't said a word either. Not before Jyn had left, not anytime in between. Not eight months ago when he'd apparently been named general over Intelligence.

Eight months ago, when the Rebellion had invited her back to their base. Jyn swallowed hard. Had that been Cassian's attempt at letting her know he was alive, bring her back to the Rebellion? If so, it had been the wrong way to do it. She had told Draven more than once, when she was on bases, that she hated to be there...

Draven. She'd been on Rebellion bases multiple times in the past two years, and she'd never seen Cassian. Draven must have ensured they were kept apart, so his scheme didn't dissolve with a glance across the landing bay.

But that was in the past. She needed to deal with the now. And now was Wedge and the Imperial tracker. She could deal with Cassian being alive later.

And if Cassian was lucky, Kaytoo might get to him first.

* * *

Captain Antilles watched Jyn leave the cockpit, then turned to Kaytoo. "Is she okay?"

"You just informed her that her contact in the Rebellion has been dead for eight months and no one thought to notify her. She had established a level of trust with the contact that has now been destroyed and she has been dealing with a new contact that is unknown to her." 

It was more than that, though Kaytoo could not explain to Captain Antilles the entire story. He didn't know that Gaila Theron was Jyn Erso, presumably the only survivor of Scarif. That she had been told, by General Draven himself, about Cassian Andor's demise. And now to hear that Cassian was not only alive, but also in charge of Intelligence for the past eight months without speaking to her was overwhelming for her to hear. 

Kaytoo wondered if Draven had been sneakier than they assumed. He and Jyn both knew that Jyn Erso had been declared 'dead' on Corellia from an Imperial raid. But that had been a work of Rebellion slicers, putting that detail into the records. Rebellion intelligence would have known about that. But if Draven had kept it from even Cassian, kept 'Gaila Theron' and her real identity hidden, it was possible that Cassian did not know that Jyn was alive. That could change the odds of how much violence Jyn would inflict on Cassian's person when she finally saw him face to face. But that assumed Jyn would be willing to listen to this theory.

"Yeah, I get that," Captain Antilles said. "You seemed surprised to hear that name, though."

"I had been informed through reliable Rebellion sources that Captain Andor was dead."

The captain's mouth dropped open briefly. "Oh," he said. "So that's why you didn't return..." he trailed off.

That was indeed part of it. There was also the promise he had made, to himself, to protect Jyn from harm, whether from outside forces, or from herself. And this time, it appeared it might be from herself.

"But haven't you transported Alliance personnel before?" the pilot wondered.

"None who appeared to know me," he said. "And I did not encourage them to become friendly with me."

He turned back to the console, ignoring Captain Antilles. He hoped Jyn was in her quarters, it would be the best place for her to let her emotions run free without Kaytoo or the captain seeing them. There was a 15.7 percent chance that the captain might wander back into the cargo bay, though he had not shown any inclination to leave the cockpit yet.

The captain did not leave though, and half an hour after they had sent the message, the console beeped with a return transmission though the secure Alliance channels. Kay activated the inter-ship communication to Jyn's quarters. "Gaila, the Rebellion has replied."

There was no response, but two minutes and twenty seven seconds later, she appeared in the doorway. There were no signs of tears on her face, which he approved of. However, the stiffness of her body and her expression indicated that Jyn was attempting to control her anger as she took her seat and opened the communication from the Rebellion.

From Cassian.

"That kriffing son of a bantha," Jyn growled.

"What?" Captain Antilles asked, looking worried.

Kaytoo leaned over and read the message aloud. "Guardian, proceed to Dantooine and rendezvous with fleet for retrieval and transport to Hoth for debriefing."

"Well, that's good, isn't it? The fleet can take care of the Imperials after me and we can all return to Hoth."

Jyn glanced at Kay, and he knew what she was thinking. They'd do their best to leave Captain Antilles with the fleet and take off themselves.

He estimated a 28.4 percent chance of them succeeding.

But with Jyn Erso, that was a high probability indeed.

* * *

Luke Skywalker dropped out of hyperspace a distance from Dantooine with the rest of squadron. The Rebel fleet appeared soon after. "All pilots, this is Rogue Leader, report in."

The familiar voices of his squadron came back, verifying their presence. The only ones missing were Rogue Eight, who was in the infirmary with a concussion after a nasty landing on Hoth, and Rogue Two. Wedge.

"Rogue Squadron, hold position in patrol pattern around the fleet until the _Rook_ arrives," Admiral Ackbar ordered from his ship.

"Copy that, Admiral," Luke responded. He called out to his fellow pilots, setting up the patrol.

Artoo whistled, and Luke looked down at the translation screen. "Yes, Artoo, we'll make sure we get Wedge back in one piece. His astromech would be unhappy with me if we didn't." Another burst of whistles, and Luke laughed. "Yes, I know you would not be happy either." Artoo liked the other pilot, even volunteering to go with him on patrol one time when Wedge's droid had been in need of repair. 

The little droid had made a lot of friends on base. Including Cassian Andor. Luke didn't realize that Artoo had been the one to add K-2SO's name to the Scarif memorial until then-Commander Andor had come up to thank him when Artoo and Luke were doing maintenance on Luke's X-wing. That had led to discussions between Luke and Cassian, and a friendship of sorts. He definitely liked the man better than he had Cassian's predecessor as Head of Alliance Intelligence. Draven had been good, but the man had a darkly ruthless practical streak, one that had led to deaths that Luke hadn't been convinced were in the Alliance's best interests. Cassian could be just as ruthless, but he at least listened to Luke's objections, and sometimes worked to minimize the "elimination of hostile assets".

He also had a respect for the Force that Luke appreciated. A lot of the Rebellion used "May the Force be with you" as a well wish or benediction, but Cassian seemed to believe in it. Luke never asked why, though, as he could tell it was a sore subject for the man.

"Contact," Rogue Ten called out, and Luke angled his ship to see a small cargo vessel drop out of hyperspace. The ship didn't raise shields or activate weaponry, just glided along. Luke reached out with the Force and smiled as he felt a familiar presence. He activated his comm.

"Rogue Leader to Rogue Two, report."

* * *

The trip from Tatooine to Dantooine had been long. The Empire had appeared in the sector within ten minutes of them arriving, but Jyn had waited until they had before taking off. They'd used the time to set the best and fastest course to Dantooine, to get this mission over with.

With a few hours between the systems, Jyn had thought about going back to her quarters and resting, but she wasn't ready to do that yet. So she'd stayed in the cockpit, letting Kay handle the piloting. Wedge had finally asked if there was a place for him to rest, so he had shown him to the spare quarters and gone back to the cockpit.

"It is possible," Kaytoo said when they were still an hour away, "that Cassian may not have known you were still alive."

"How do you figure?" she asked. 

"Jyn Erso is known to have died on Corellia. If General Draven did not inform anyone else of the fact that you were Guardian, if he kept your new identity secret from the Rebellion, there may not have been any way for Cassian to know you were alive."

"You think Draven kept us both in the dark?" she asked. "Playing some sick little game?"

"Protecting his assets."

Jyn snorted. "Protecting his ass more likely, if I ever found out Cassian was alive." She paused. "I know what you're trying to do, Kay."

His head turned to her, eyes whirring inquisitively.

"Trying to stop me from attacking General Andor or other Alliance personnel on site while you stand there and mutter statistics on the imminent pain and suffering the various personages will be experiencing."

Kay was silent for a long time, regarding her. She could see him out of the corner of her eyes as she checked the readouts on the hyperdrive.

"Well," he finally replied, "there is an 89.9 percent chance of you inflicting substantial pain on Cassian on sight, and a 92.4 percent chance that you will continue to do so if no one interferes."

Jyn couldn't help laughing at that. "I'm surprised the odds of me hitting him aren't higher," she finally said.

"There is a chance he might be able to stop you from actually hitting him."

"Just not a high one?"

"No."

She sighed. "I guess we'll have to see," she finally said. While Kaytoo's theory on Draven would make sense, she wasn't sure she was able to believe it. Cassian was Rebel Intelligence, the head of it now, and the idea that he had an asset that he didn't know their true name? That was hard to swallow.

Wedge rejoined them half an hour before they arrived at Dantooine. They all waited in silence. Jyn suspected they were all hoping that the Empire wasn't waiting for them, that they would emerge from hyperspace into a friendlier grouping of ships.

When the timer finished counting down, Jyn dropped them back into normal space. She held her breath as the star field resolved into more ships, then quietly let it out when she recognized the Alliance's X-wing fighters. Behind her, Wedge gave an audible sigh of relief at the sight.

"That's the Alliance," he said.

"No sign of Imperial ships," Kaytoo reported.

"So, how do we let them know that we're who they are waiting for?" Jyn asked Wedge. Before he could reply, the comm crackled to life.

"Rogue Leader to Rogue Two, report."

Jyn blinked at that. Wedge leaned forward. "That's my squad leader and my call sign. Rogue Squadron formed not long after the Battle of Yavin. We named ourselves after the insertion team that obtained the Death Star plans," he added.

"Who is Rogue One then?" Kaytoo asked.

"Technically, the squad leader is, but no one calls him that. We agreed there wouldn't be a Rogue One call sign, to honor the team members that died." He looked at Jyn. "I should report in, before they get worried that the Empire has set a trap."

Jyn activated the comm and nodded to Wedge. "Rogue Leader, this is Rogue Two. The womp rat is alive, but the next time, you can deal with the import authorities, I'll just stick with Guardian."

"Acknowledged, Rogue Two. Ask Guardian to move behind the squadron so they're better defended, and we'll make sure the import authorities don't get you."

"Roger that," Wedge said as Jyn nodded, steering the _Rook_ toward Rogue Squadron. The Alliance had kept everyone's memory alive, not just in a memorial, but as an active participant in the fight. It was more than she would have hoped for, if she had stayed with them.

She had just slid into position when the proximity alarms sounded and the same Imperial cruiser that had been following them appeared in the viewscreen.

"All fighters, prepare for attack," Rogue Leader said. "Rogue Two, maintain position."

"Copy that," Wedge replied. Jyn watched as the X-wings and a few other ships sped toward the cruiser, leaving the _Rook_ guarded by what she presumed was the command frigate and some Correllian hammerhead corvettes. 

"So now we wait," Jyn said.

Kaytoo inclined his head. "Now we wait."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to cutie_bug for letting me borrow a phrase from one of her comments!


	5. Revised Estimates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"Your Highness, you always know how to make a man feel better about himself," Cassian said with a wry smile._

Despite his words to Luke, Wedge would rather have been at the controls of his X-wing than sitting in the _Rook_ waiting for the battle to end. He felt at home in the X-wing, unlike sitting in this cargo ship, behind Gaila and Kaytoo, watching his fellow pilots take down the Imperial cruiser. He also had control in his own ship, played a part in the battle. Here, he could only watch and wait, wincing as he saw some of the cruiser's blasts come too close to one of his squad mates.

Part of it, he admitted, was he didn't like being caught in the odd tension that had appeared in the ship since he had inadvertently told Gaila Theron that her contact in the Rebellion was dead. And that someone Kaytoo, at least, thought was dead was now the head of Rebel Intelligence. He didn't know what Gaila's history with the Rebellion was, but he was pretty sure he hadn't helped it. He thought back to the conversation he'd overheard on Takodana, between Gaila and the unknown woman, about the man that Gaila had lost to the Rebellion. Before they'd even had a chance to discover if they were something, she had said.

Wedge paused, a wild theory flashing though his brain, as bright as a laser bolt from his X-wing. It was almost unbelievable, but yet, it might fit. It would explain why Kaytoo was with Gaila, instead of back at the Rebellion with Cassian Andor. Why Kaytoo was protective of her. And why Gaila was so angry - it wasn't about General Draven's death, but about General Andor being alive.

He thought about the rumors around Yavin, after the Scarif mission, about how the infamously composed Captain Andor had put together a team and gone, well, rogue to get the Death Star plans with Jyn Erso. How they had acted around each other.

How Cassian Andor had reacted to the news that Jyn Erso had been killed on Corellia. He had seen it himself - while he hadn't been friendly with the Rebel spy, he saw how after the Scarif mission, the man had been even less open, less friendly with others. Like he had pulled back into himself, without anything other than the Rebellion to live for. Wedge had proposed to Luke naming their squadron "Rogue", getting the newly promoted Commander Andor's blessing, and that had started bringing the man back to something approaching normal, but anyone who had known him before the Scarif mission had still seen a difference.

He had never met Jyn Erso, never seen any holos of her, but right now, Wedge would bet his last credit that Gaila Theron and Jyn Erso were the same woman, and as she hadn't known Cassian Andor was alive, neither did he know that she was alive.

An explosion outside the view screen pulled him out of his musings. Chunks of the Imperial cruiser flew outward, and Gaila moved the _Rook_ to avoid one of them. The rest of Rogue Squadron and the other ships did as well, some of the X-wings taking out the remaining few TIE fighters that had joined the party while Wedge had been thinking. He counted the X-wings once they started forming back into regular patterns. Only two of their number were missing. One was his X-wing, but he wondered who the other missing member was, and if they had been lost in the battle or they hadn't made it to the battle in the first place.

"Rogue Leader to Rogue Two."

Wedge looked at Gaila and she toggled the comm. "Rogue Two here, Rogue Leader. Everyone ok?"

"All accounted for, Wedge. Admiral Ackbar has extended an invitation for the _Rook_ to dock on _Home One_ for the trip to Hoth."

Gaila's fists clenched, and Kaytoo turned to her, muting the comm. Wedge beat him to a response. "It would save the fuel, and the wear and tear on the _Rook_ ," Wedge pointed out. "Might even be able to con a few repairs out of his deck crew."

She turned to him, green eyes flashing, but she finally nodded. Kaytoo opened the comm line again for Wedge to repond. "Rogue Leader, this is Rogue Two. Guardian accepts the admiral's invitation."

"Roger that, Rogue Two. Meet me in docking bay 4."

"Acknowledged," Wedge replied. The comm went silent, and he gestured to the bulk of the command frigate. "Docking bay 4 is the second from the engines on the port side," he told her.

"I see it," Kaytoo replied. He and Gaila adjusted the _Rook_ 's course. Wedge waited, wondering if he should say anything to Gaila about his theory. He also wondered if he should warn General Andor.

He would, if he were absolutely sure that Jyn Erso and Gaila Theron were the same person. But while everything fit, he just wasn't sure enough. And if she wasn't Jyn Erso, he didn't want to be someone that might have gotten the general's hopes up for something that was never going to happen.

* * *

Jyn did not want to dock on the Rebellion command frigate, did not want to expose herself to who knew how many Rebellion personnel - some of whom might remember her from the time she had spent on Yavin. She really did not want to have Cassian alerted to her presence. She had to know for herself, definitively know, if he had been aware of her survival. If he had been behind Draven telling her that Cassian was dead. And that would be easier if Cassian didn't know she was coming.

"The Rebellion is going to want to scan the ship and us, to ensure there are no more trackers that could lead the Empire back to their base," Kaytoo said as they approached the frigate, waiting for clearance to dock. "And to ensure that no other Imperial ships are about to bear down on us."

"If they do, if we're on their command frigate, at least they don't have to worry about protecting us again," Jyn admitted. "I just hate--" _being somewhere I could be recognized,_ she didn't say.

Kay, as usual, understood her. "I know."

Behind her, she could feel Wedge's interest in the conversation, but the pilot said nothing until they were fully docked in the _Home One_ 's bay. "Should I go first, in case someone decides that Kaytoo is target practice?"

Jyn couldn't help the small snicker at the inadvertent call back to her description of Kaytoo on Jedha. Kaytoo turned to her, eyes whirring slowly, before turning to Wedge. "That would be appreciated."

Following Wedge back into the cargo area, Jyn reached for the door controls as Kaytoo stepped back and to the side, so no one would have a clean shot at him. It wouldn't be a issue if they did shoot him, as his body could withstand several blaster shots, but if they did major damage, finding another body would take time. If they got the memory banks, then they'd have to use the latest backup tapes as well. She didn't know when the last time Kaytoo had backed himself up, but she knew where he hid them in his quarters. Just in case, he had told her.

The doors opened, and a fair haired young man in a pilot's flight suit stood at the bottom of the ramp, a blue astromech next to him. Behind him was a Mon Calamari officer and several other humanoids that Jyn immediately identified as a mix of security and intelligence officers.

"Luke!" Wedge said, smiling.

"Wedge," Luke replied with a smile. "Sorry, but the intelligence guys need to check the ship first."

To his credit, Wedge turned and looked at Jyn, who nodded permission. Wedge turned back to Luke. "Not a problem. The tracker the Empire placed on me is on my jacket." He held up the offending garment, which he held in his hand. An intelligence officer came forward and took the jacket, placing it into a metal box. "Also, before you guys get trigger happy, the co-pilot of the _Rook_ is another reprogrammed KX class Imperial droid, like K-2SO was," he added. "Yes, I'm convinced he's not on the Empire's side."

"We will take that into account, Captain Antilles," the Mon Calamari said. He stepped forward, looking at Jyn. "I'm Admiral Ackbar."

"I'm Guardian," she said, not giving out her name. "It's a pleasure to meet you." She stepped forward onto the ramp. "The _Rook_ has nothing to hide, if your men and women would like to scan it."

The admiral nodded and gestured the intelligence personnel forward. Jyn watched as they regarded Kaytoo warily, but the droid let them scan him as thoroughly as they were scanning the ship. Kay met her gaze, and she knew he was unhappy, being treated like someone untrustworthy when he'd once been somewhat trusted by the Rebellion. And had been trusted implicitly over the past two years by her.

"All clear, Admiral," the major in charge of the scanning team finally announced. "No other tracking or transmittal devices than the one on Captain Antilles' jacket."

"Very well. We'll set out for Hoth as soon as possible. Guardian, you are welcome to join me on the bridge."

Jyn could tell the offer was a formality. The admiral wouldn't want her on the bridge. "While I appreciate the offer, Admiral, I would prefer to stay with the _Rook_. There are some repairs he needs that are better done while in dock."

The admiral nodded and gestured. "Chief Resyn, please assist Guardian in any repairs she may have."

The chief saluted. "Of course, Admiral."

The admiral took his leave, and Jyn looked over to see Wedge in discussion with the man he'd called Luke. From the voice, she suspected the man was Rogue Leader. Meaning she wasn't sure she wanted to talk to him.

"Ma'am," the chief asked. "What kinds of repairs will you be needing?"

"Kayte will have a better listing of the systems," she replied, falling back on a false identity she had Kaytoo had worked up for him in places where neither were sure if the designation K-2SO would draw the wrong attention. K-8MT was much more discreet. Luckily, Wedge had been circumspect on Kaytoo's identity. 

Nodding for the chief to follow her, she headed for the _Rook_.

* * *

"General, the fleet is back in system. Rogue Squadron is escorting Guardian down to the base. They should be landing in half an hour."

Cassian looked up from the disturbing report one of the Bothan spies had sent him. "Thank you, Lieutenant," he replied. "Dismissed."

The lieutenant nodded and left the doorway. Cassian set aside the datapad. He would have to read it again later, he knew, but his brief review had him worried that the Empire had found enough kyber in the remains of the Eadu facility to create another super weapon.

He wasn't sure he had it in him to face a second Death Star.

Standing, he made his careful way to the hangar, pulling his jacket tighter around him. On the way, he ran into Princess Leia and Han Solo, having another argument in the hallways. He rolled his eyes, but stepped up to them. "Your Highness," he said respectfully, getting her to look at him. "Rogue Squadron has returned with Rogue Two and Guardian."

"Oh, we finally get to meet this infamous Guardian?" Solo asked. Cassian ignored him in favor of Leia. She was technically his superior, as a member of the Alliance council. He knew she had her own reasons for not taking a formal military rank, but sometimes, he wished she would so the upstart recruits would focus less on her royal title and more on her brilliance and value to the Rebellion.

"Thank you, General," she said. "Are you on your way to meet them?"

"I am, ma'am," he replied.

"Then I'll join you. Captain Solo and I were finished." She took Cassian's arm and started them in the direction of the hangar. Behind them, Solo huffed and tried to say something, but nothing coherent came out.

"He's not going to happy about that," Cassian said softly.

"He's been cornering me about needing to leave again. I don't know why he doesn't just leave, instead of making a big production each time. Something always breaks on the _Falcon_ when he does."

 _He's wanting you to ask him to stay,_ Cassian thought, but didn't say. It wasn't his place.

"Besides, you're limping again, and worse than usual, if I can be blunt. Since I know you won't take painkillers or use supports, then the least I can do make sure you get to the hanger in one piece."

"Your Highness, you always know how to make a man feel better about himself," Cassian said with a wry smile.

Leia laughed brightly, drawing the eyes of everyone in the hanger as they entered. She shook her head at Cassian. "I know you better than that, General," she told him, as the first of the squadron appeared in the sky, descending towards the open doors of the hanger. "Should we let Mon Mothma know? She had mentioned wanting to meet Guardian."

Cassian shook his head. "I'd rather limit the initial greetings to a few. If Guardian isn't trustworthy, I'd prefer only to have myself compromised, but if I can't persuade you to leave, then having Mon Mothma and General Rieekan in the shadows ensures continuity of operations."

Leia gave him a look. "You are not expendable, General."

He didn't reply as the first X-wing landed. It wasn't Rogue Leader, judging by the astromech in the back. They waited as the remainder of the squad landed, with Rogue Leader - Luke Skywalker coming in last, next to a cargo ship just a little bit smaller than the _Millennium Falcon_.

That had to be the _Rook_ , Guardian's ship.

He and Leia headed for the ship, meeting Luke at the cargo ramp. It hadn't lowered yet, but Luke didn't look concerned. "Wedge is on the _Rook_ ," he said. "He told me he wasn't sure Guardian wouldn't take off if he wasn't on the ship. Also," he added before Leia could respond, "Guardian has a co-pilot, a reprogrammed KX-class Imperial droid. Guardian called it K8."

Cassian turned to the ramp, seeing it start to open. His first brief thought was that somehow, Kaytoo's backups had been found, and he'd been put into a new body. But not with that designation.

The ramp hit the ground with a soft clang, and Wedge Antilles descended the ramp. "Captain," Leia greeted him.

"Your Highness. General," Wedge replied, returning the princess' hug with a surprised hug of his own.

Movement on the ramp caught Cassian's attention, and he stared at the angry woman who descended quickly. A woman who should be dead, but there was no way that this was coincidence. No chance in the Force that there were two women who looked exactly like Jyn.

The woman strode up to him as he was attempting to process what he was seeing, and without a word, she drew back her fist and punched him, hard.

Pain exploded in his jaw, and Cassian fell to the hanger floor, causing his hip to flare with pain as well. He was dimly aware of Wedge and Luke restraining the woman, and a droid approaching from behind her.

The last thing he heard before blacking out was a familiar voice. "I should have revised my estimate to a 99.8 percent chance of you hitting Cassian on sight."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At least they are finally in the same room?


	6. Now Is Not the Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"You couldn't have stopped her before she punched General Andor?"_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> _"That would have required me to want to stop her," Kaytoo replied._

Jyn didn't struggle against the arms holding her back. She wasn't going to hit Cassian while he was unconscious - especially as knocking him unconscious hadn't been her goal. And while she might have hit him again if he were standing, depending on his reaction, she definitely wasn't now.

The dark haired woman who had hugged Wedge earlier was on the ground by Cassian's side, calling for a medical team and security. Others were gathering around, shooting Jyn dark looks. She ignored them all to focus on Cassian. He looked vulnerable, unconscious on the floor. She wanted to gather him to her, at the same time that she wanted to walk away.

"Gaila." Kaytoo's voice cut in, and she turned her head to him. She recognized that Luke and Wedge were the two holding her arms, trying to keep her from moving.

"You can't tell me he didn't deserve it," she replied.

"Maybe he did," Wedge said, "but punching him in front of Princess Leia wasn't exactly smart." He paused and turned to Kaytoo. "You couldn't have stopped her before she punched General Andor?"

"That would have required me to want to stop her," Kaytoo replied.

Jyn looked at Kay, surprised.

"I don't know," a new voice drawled. Jyn looked up to see a familiar smirk on a man in a dark blue parka. "I rather enjoyed it."

"Now is not the time, Han," the woman next to Cassian - Princess Leia? - snapped.

"It is always the time," Han Solo replied. "Isn't that right, Tanith?"

Jyn gave the smuggler a small smile. "For people who let you believe they were dead for two years, there is always a time to punch them."

Han whistled. "Two years, huh? That's definitely worth a free punch." He tilted his head, looking at her. "Though if you're who I think you really are, Andor probably deserves a free punch as well."

Jyn looked at him, but said nothing.

"Who is she?" Luke asked. "All we got on the trip out and back was the name Guardian."

The medical team hurried in then, checking on Cassian. Behind them were two people, one of whom Jyn recognized. She would never be able to forget the short hair, the plain white robes, or the calm expression on the woman's face. An expression that turned to surprise as she looked up from her data pad and finally saw Jyn.

"Miss Erso?"

Mon Mothma's quiet exclamation of surprise echoed as the entire hangar had quieted down, and now were craning their heads to see the woman the Alliance head of state had named. The woman who everyone there probably thought had died.

"Yeah," Han said slowly. "Andor owes you a punch as well."

"Jyn Erso?" Luke asked. "But she died on Corellia."

"And Cassian Andor died of his injuries after the Battle of Scarif," Jyn said, finally speaking. "Yet somehow _General_ Andor is here."

The princess stood, letting the medical team take Cassian. "Threepio, Artoo, go with him and keep us updated on his condition," she ordered Luke's astromech and another droid.

Mon Mothma had approached Jyn, and at a gesture, Luke and Wedge released her, though they stayed nearby. "How did you survive Corellia?"

"I was never on Corellia. My death was General Draven making sure Guardian couldn't be tied to Jyn Erso."

"Draven?" Princess Leia asked disbelievingly.

"Perhaps this is a conversation for a less open area," Mon Mothma said before Jyn could respond. She glanced at Kaytoo. "And you are designated?" she asked.

Jyn looked back at Kaytoo and gave him a shrug. If he chose to keep the Kayte designation they'd used on _Home One_ , that was his choice.

"I am K-2SO, restored by Jyn Erso from data files backed up just prior to the Scarif mission," he said.

"I thought you said he was K-8MT," Luke hissed to Wedge.

"His real name wasn't my secret to tell, boss," Wedge replied. "The same way hers wasn't."

Jyn turned to look at him, and he shrugged. "I overheard you on Takodana, and put a few things together. But without proof, wasn't much I could say."

Han looked over at Princess Leia, who was talking to her commlink. "Sounds like a lot of secrets are about to come to light."

"Yeah, but should they?" Luke asked.

"I think that has been taken out of our hands, Commander," Mon Mothma replied calmly as Princess Leia joined them.

"General Andor is awake," the younger woman said, "He'll meet us in the briefing room." She turned on her heel and headed toward the base proper.

Jyn sighed and when Wedge gestured, she followed the princess, Kaytoo right behind her. Han fell into step next to her. Jyn wondered how he had gotten messed up in all of this. They'd done a couple of runs together, about a year after Saw had abandoned her, and he had had no Rebellion sympathies that she could tell.

"I won't stop him if he tries to take his free punch," Han told her as they walked.

"You might not, but I will," Kaytoo replied before Jyn could.

"Whose side are you on? And weren't you Andor's droid?"

"I may have been affiliated with Cassian before, but I am aligned with Jyn now."

"And he's no one's droid," she added. "He's his own non-organic being, free to come and go as he pleases."

"Uh-huh." 

They'd reached the briefing room. The princess was on the far side of the holo table from the entrance, next to Cassian and the two droids. Mon Mothma moved between the two factions. Jyn and Kaytoo stayed close to the door. Wedge and Luke moved opposite of Mon Mothma, and Jyn glanced behind her to see Chewbacca, Han's wookie friend and co-pilot, taking up a position at the door. She didn't know when he had arrived, but she gave him a nod of recognition before turning back to the room.

"All right," Mon Mothma said. "Let's start at the beginning."

* * *

Waking up hurt.

Cassian frowned, then winced as his jaw informed him that was a bad idea. He hissed at the pain both in his jaw and his hip.

"Hang on a second, General," a voice said, and then there was the feel of an autoinjector at his neck. Cassian didn't have time to object before the painkiller spread, lessening the ache. "Princess Leia instructed us to give you a low dose of painkiller when you woke up as she said you would not be likely to tell us if you were in pain."

He opened his eyes to look at the medical technician. "Thank you," he said. He couldn't argue with the results. The pain was managable, but he didn't feel like his thoughts were impeded. Which was good, as the last thing he needed was a foggy head when Jyn Erso was apparently on base. And pissed off.

"General Andor," Threepio said, entering the room as the technician left with orders for Cassian to stay off his leg as much as possible. "Her Highness has asked you to join her in the briefing room once you are released."

Cassian sat up, shifting gingerly until his hip settled. He looked over at Threepio. "How long was I out?"

"Less than five minutes, General," the protocol droid replied. At his side, Artoo whistled. "Artoo feels that the combination of the punch and falling on your left side contributed to your lapse of consciousness."

The droid whistled a question. Cassian nodded before Threepio could translate. "Yeah, I recognized her. I don't know how Jyn is alive, but..." he trailed off, stabilizing himself as he slid off the bed. "She is. And she never told me."

"According to Miss Erso, she was under the impression that you were dead for the past two years as well." He followed Cassian out of the medical bay toward the briefing room.

Cassian stopped and looked at the droid. Artoo whistled in confirmation. Cassian growled softly and started walking again. "We will get to the bottom of this. Before anyone else throws punches."

Artoo chirped. "Captain Solo says you are entitled to a punch against Miss Erso for her two years of faked death." Threepio sounded disapproving.

"I may take him up on that," Cassian replied before entering the briefing room and heading to the far side to wait.

* * *

After the Alliance chief of state had asked to start at the beginning, Kaytoo watched the occupants of the room. Cassian stood on the far side, looking anywhere but at Jyn and Kay, except for brief glances. Princess Leia stood next to him, and the man that she had addressed as 'Han' stood next to her. Someone Jyn had known before Scarif, it seemed.

Mon Mothma stood between Jyn and Cassian's group. She looked between them, waiting for someone to start speaking. Jyn herself had her fists pressed to the edge of the table, not looking at anyone.

Commander Luke Skywalker and Captain Antilles stood opposite Mon Mothma, and they were waiting as well for someone to speak. The only person in the room who looked indifferent was the Wookie.

It apparently fell to him to speak first.

"The beginning would appear to be once Captain Andor and Jyn Erso returned to Yavin after Scarif," he said. "Something I didn't see as I had apparently already been destroyed in the Citadel at Scarif."

Cassian's head whipped around. "Kaytoo?" he asked disbelievingly.

"Yes," Kay replied, before saying a phrase in Cassian's native language that was nonsense, even in that language, but something Cassian had taught him for times like this - when he needed to confirm Kay's identity.

The general swallowed, staring at him. "I thought you were..." His gaze shifted to Jyn. "You took his backup tapes?" he asked angrily.

"You were _dead,_ " Jyn replied icily. "As far as I knew, you weren't going to be using his back up tapes, and I didn't think it was fair to leave him sitting around if there was a way to give him back his life."

"I was not dead!" Cassian exclaimed. "Do I look dead to you?"

"Who told you that Andor was dead?" Han Solo asked, cutting into Cassian's potential rant.

"General Draven. He told me that General Andor hadn't made it and offered me a ship and an identity that wasn't linked to any of my old aliases, and I took it." Jyn looked at Mon Mothma. "There was _nothing_ keeping me here, so I took his offer, after telling him that Jyn Erso had to 'die'. I didn't want the Rebellion compromised if I was caught on any mission or even a cargo run. He agreed. So I left and became Guardian. I've been Guardian ever since."

"And somehow no one in the Rebellion knew about the falsified Corellia reports or told me about it after Draven's death when I had them checking into _everything_ to find out who Guardian was," Cassian said, glaring at Jyn. "We haven't lost a slicer since before Scarif, so _someone_ on my staff knew, and you're saying they all _lied_ to me?"

"General Draven started his military service as a slicer for the Republic during the Clone Wars."

Everyone turned to look at Mon Mothma, and she gave them a rueful smile as she continued. "If he did the slicing work himself, then no one else in Alliance Intelligence would have known the reports regarding Miss Erso's demise were not accurate. It would have allowed him to ensure that General Andor would not be able to, however inadvertently, find out that she was alive and working as Guardian."

"Including making sure Cassian and Jyn never saw each other any time Guardian did have to stop at a Rebellion base," Kaytoo added. "Which was not often, but still was a possibility."

"Why would he lie about General Andor's survival?" Wedge asked. When they all turned to him, he shrugged. "That's what seems to be the beginning. General Draven told Gaila, sorry - Jyn, that General Andor was dead."

"We may never know," Princess Leia said. "I doubt General Draven left anything indicating his reasons." She sighed. "So I guess the question is what do we do going forward?"

"I don't see that anything changes," Jyn said. Kaytoo turned to her, seeing her carefully blank expression, the way she was looking at Mon Mothma instead of Cassian. "Guardian still has a job to do, a purpose, and that's best done with Gaila Theron out there in the thick of things, running cargo and Rebellion personnel when needed."

Turning his gaze to Cassian, Kaytoo saw the brief look of hurt and pain on the man's face before his usual mask reappeared. "She's right," he said. Jyn's shoulders stiffened. "Guardian is needed. We have too much going on to remove Guardian from the fight."

Mon Mothma looked between the two of them, then nodded. "I will leave the details to the two of you," she said, turning to the door. "We do have the briefing on that other matter, General Andor, Commander Skywalker, Senator Organa. Captain Antilles, will you show Miss Erso and K-2SO to quarters? We will," she added, looking at Jyn and Kaytoo, "ensure that your ship is fully operational and fueled before you leave again."

"Thank you," Jyn said.

Mon Mothma left the room, the others following until only Captain Antilles, Han Solo, and the Wookie were left with Jyn and Kaytoo. To the droid's surprise, the Wookie came over and ruffled Jyn's hair, growling out a greeting and an offer to help with repairs. Jyn smiled up at him. "Thanks, Chewie," she said. "Kaytoo and I appreciate it."

"We do?" Kaytoo asked.

"Yes, we do. Chewie is a good mechanic."

"I will take your word for it." He stared at the Wookie, who stared back.

"So, let me show you to the spare quarters," Wedge said, leading them out of the room. Solo and the Wookie followed them down several corridors until Wedge stopped and gestured to two doors side by side. "Here you are."

"Thanks, Wedge," Jyn said.

"Thank you, Captain," Kaytoo added. He waited until Wedge and the others had left before turning to Jyn. "If you need assistance," he offered. He doubted Jyn would need help with anything, but he knew that offering it would make her feel better.

"I'll call, Kay," she replied, heading into one of the rooms. Kay turned and headed into the other, looking for the charging port. He settled in, but kept his auditory sensors active, in case Jyn did call.

* * *

Jyn stepped out of the 'fresher and finished toweling off her hair. She was surprised that she had rated one with real water, but figured being on Hoth probably made it easier to melt snow for water. Nonetheless, she had been glad to get a shower with real water. A tiny sonic clothes washer had cleaned her clothes, so she was dressed in clean clothing and feeling better than she had in several days.

Or at least since before Kafrene and finding out that Cassian was alive.

Putting the towel away, she settled onto the bed, putting her hair back up as she considered her next steps, once she and Kay were off the Rebel base. Assuming Kay decided to stay with her, instead of remaining with Cassian.

She had no guarantees either way, and she wouldn't try to influence him. That wouldn't be fair to Kay.

Her door chime sounded, and she looked up, frowning. She stood up and opened it, wondering if Kay or Wedge needed something.

"Hello, Jyn."

She hadn't been expecting Cassian at her door, looking at her with a casually blank face, except for the bruise on his jaw, not giving anything away.

"Cassian," she said neutrally.

"May I come in?"

Swallowing, knowing that she should have expected this confrontation, she nodded and stepped back, letting him in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, this chapter took a while to get right in my head. Also, yeah, sorry, cliffhanger. *hides*
> 
> And I know that a lot of people have done the "Jyn and Han knew each other" thing, but I like the idea so I ran with it here. Tanith Ponta is an alias of Jyn's from the _Rogue One_ novelization.
> 
> I made up Draven's background, but it fit so well here to explain a few things.


	7. I'm Here Now

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"I'm not going to apologize for the punch," Jyn said._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not entirely happy with this chapter, but if I do end up editing it, I'll make sure to mention it in future chapters.

Han waited outside the room where Mon Mothma was meeting with Leia, Luke, and Andor. Chewie had wandered off to check out the _Rook_ , at least what he could see on the outside. Han would have joined him, but he wanted to speak to Andor first.

He would be the first to admit that Andor wasn't one of his favorite people. It didn't help that they had met before, when they were both much younger, at the military academy on Carida. Han had been trying a misguided attempt at going straight by entering into the Academy. He'd washed out fairly early on, and part of that was due to a pain in the ass, by-the-book fellow recruit named Joreth Sward. Or, as he was known to the Rebellion, Cassian Andor.

To Andor's credit, he had been open about their previous meeting when introduced to Han by Leia. Which had saved both of them a lot of yelling and potential fighting. But it still didn't mean he liked the man any better, especially not when he found out that Commander Andor was Rebel Intelligence. He didn't like spies. Andor's attempt to commandeer the _Falcon_ for a mission had definitely not helped.

The door opened and Leia came out. She paused and raised an eyebrow at him, and he shrugged. "Need to talk to Andor," he said.

Leia frowned. "About?"

"Tanith," he said, using the name that Jyn Erso had been going by when he knew her. Leia's eyes narrowed, but she looked back into the room, then at Han. 

"Keep the bloodshed to a minimum. I don't want to hear that Cassian's been sent to the medical bay again."

Han smirked at her. "I promise that I won't punch without provocation," he said, mimicking something she'd once said to him.

She rolled her eyes but walked away. Luke followed her, frowning at Han, glancing back at Andor, but said nothing as he joined Mon Mothma on her way out.

Andor came out last, and he glared at Han. "Do you need something, Captain?" he asked as he headed in a different direction from the others. Han fell into step beside him, not missing that Andor was still limping. 

"Yeah. Wanted to talk about Tanith Ponta." 

"You mean Jyn Erso."

"She wasn't Jyn when I knew her. Just Tanith, a kid who'd been betrayed by someone she'd trusted and trying to find her way. Took her on for a few runs until she decided it was time to take off."

"Your point?"

"Just reminding you that the droid isn't her only friend on base. Chewie likes you, but he likes her, too. So just keep that in mind."

"And you?"

Han shrugged as he turned down a hallway to head back to the hanger. "She appreciates the _Falcon_ a lot more than you do."

He heard Andor's frustrated noise behind him, and grinned as he headed to the hanger. He thought he'd gotten his point across. The meeting they had earlier had cleared a lot of the air between the parties, but frankly, almost everyone in that room had been on Andor's side. Didn't hurt to remind him that Jyn wasn't alone either.

"Chewie, how's Tanith's ship looking?" he called out. He grinned at the response from his friend. "Well, let's see what supplies we have on the _Falcon_ then."

* * *

After she had let him in, Cassian moved to the center of Jyn's room, not sure of what to say. Behind him, he heard the door shut, leaving the two of them alone in the room. Which was what he had wanted. No one listening in, no one watching them.

Just the two of them, alone, for the first time in two years.

"I'm not going to apologize for the punch," Jyn said. He turned to see her standing next to the door, arms crossed over her chest. "I honestly didn't believe that you would have an asset that you didn't know the true identity of."

"I spent eight months trying to find Guardian's identity. I tried to invite you back, get you into the Rebellion formally, just to figure out who you were."

She gave a mirthless laugh. "And I assumed that it was Draven showing a complete lack of tact when he knew full well how much I hated being on Rebellion bases."

"He still had you land on some of them." Kaytoo had mentioned that. Draven had to have been very careful, to make sure Jyn and Cassian never saw each other. 

"When transporting Rebel officers, yes. But I hated it." She paused, looking away. "Even when it wasn't Yavin, it reminded me of you."

He stopped at that. He wasn't sure what to say to her. He closed his eyes, thinking of how he had felt, when he found out she was dead. "I guess I can understand that," he admitted, opening his eyes. "If I'd found out, on Yavin, that you were gone..." He still didn't want to go back to Yavin, because it had been the last place he had seen her. He didn't want to replace that memory with something new. 

"Draven didn't like me." She said into the silence that had fallen. "I know he didn't. It was pretty plain from our first meeting that he had no use for me if I couldn't be of use to the Rebellion. Knowing what I know now, I wonder if the reason he gave me a ship and a code name, and told me you were dead, was to keep me away from you. His best asset."

"Joke was on him, as my injuries... well, they made field work a dangerous proposition. One wrong shot and my spinal injuries could be re-aggravated." She made a soft noise of distress, something he wasn't sure she even knew she had made. "The doctors say if I hadn't climbed the tower after you, I might not have done as much damage." He shrugged. "But if I hadn't, you wouldn't have survived and the plans wouldn't have gotten out to the Rebellion. So I don't regret it."

Jyn didn't say anything, but she moved across the room, coming within an inch of him before coming to a halt next to the bed. He wanted to reach out, pull her to him, hold her and rejoice in the knowledge that Jyn Erso was alive, but he stopped himself. Jyn still looked fragile, like she might break apart.

_A kid who'd been betrayed by someone she'd trusted and trying to find her way._

Solo's words came back to him. He could see where Jyn was, in her head. Alone in the universe except for Kaytoo, and a general who didn't like her giving her orders, allowing her to stay somewhat committed to a Rebellion that had cost her a lot, personally. And then she found out Cassian wasn't dead. It wasn't unreasonable for her to assume he'd known that she was alive, based on what she knew of him. He probably would have assumed the same in her shoes.

He _had_ assumed the same, when he saw her. That she'd somehow survived, faked her death on Corellia to take the chance at a fresh start that Mon Mothma had offered her, and leave him behind. But now that he knew the truth - that they'd both been played by an expert…

"You know," he finally said aloud, "if Draven truly is one with the Force, then he is probably regretting his actions right now."

Jyn turned to him. "How do you mean?"

He gave her a wry smile. "I'm pretty sure Chirrut and Baze and Bodhi have been giving him hell for the past eight months."

That startled a laugh out of her. "I'm sure they are."

He took the chance to move forward a bit, closer to her. "If I had thought you could be alive, I would have known that you had to be Guardian, with your ship named the _Rook_. But it didn't seem too out of the ordinary for a ship name from a random person."

She didn't move away, and he took that as a good sign. "Kaytoo got it immediately. That, and my code name. What was it he said?" she asked, looking at the ceiling. "Something about Draven not being that imaginative with codenames, and Guardian was something Draven would have chosen for a long term planetary assignment, not a roving quasi-attached asset."

Cassian chuckled. "He's not wrong. Guardian did seem an odd name for one of Draven's assets."

"I chose it, not Draven" she said simply, looking at him. He looked back, frowning, then closed his eyes and nodded. "Guardian. For the Guardians of the Whills. For Chirrut and Baze."

"It was the only way I could think of to honor them in the short amount of time I had to pick a name."

"And you took Kaytoo's tapes and put him in a new body." He paused. "Everyone got a memorial in your new life." _Except me_ , he didn't add, wondering if she just hadn't considered him that important. Or if, like him, it hurt too much to have something overtly reminding her of him.

"I don't know that Kaytoo was a memorial. There were times I wanted to space him in the first three months we were working together. But he deserved a second chance, even if he'd never remember what happened on Scarif."

"You earned his respect. He's more on your side than mine now." He tried not to be bitter about that.

"We went through a lot together. He saved my life a few times, I kept him from being shot a few times, reprogrammed once. Don't ask him about that time, he's pretty sensitive about it still," she added with a smile. "It worked for us, having each other. I know I wouldn't want any other droid at my side now." She looked at Cassian. "If we had known that you were alive earlier, I doubt Kay would have stayed with me. I told him often that he was welcome to go if he wanted to, to the Rebellion or anyplace he wanted. He always chose to stay."

Cassian nodded, understanding. For all his faults and grumblings, Kaytoo enjoyed human company, and he would have preferred company he knew to company he didn't. "I'm glad he did stay, though," he told her. "At least you two had each other."

She nodded back, but didn't say anything for a long time. Cassian waited, trying to think of something to say, or do. He still wanted to pull her into his arms, apologize again, bury his face in her hair and never let her go. Try to see if what had passed between them on Scarif, on Jedha, was real and could withstand the pressure of time and the Rebellion.

He wanted to get back some of the two years that Draven, for whatever his reasons, had stolen from them.

Jyn finally spoke. "I'm glad you're alive," she said simply, eyes wide. "I..." She stopped. "I'm sorry, but Kaytoo wasn't the only thing I took from your rooms before I left."

He wasn't sure what else she could have taken, except-- "Wait, you took my jacket as well? I assumed it, like Kay's backup, had been lost in the move between bases, while I was still in medical."

"I couldn't memorialize you like the others. So I stole your jacket. It's on the _Rook_ , in a hidden compartment under my bunk mattress."

"You've been sleeping on top of my jacket for two years?" he asked, trying to wrap his head around the mental image the words brought to mind. 

"It was the only way I could keep you close," she whispered.

He broke then, reaching out and pulling Jyn into his arms, holding her tightly. Her arms wrapped around him and she buried her face into the cloth of his shirt, even as he pressed his lips into her hair. 

It wasn't until he felt the moisture from her tears soaking into his shirt that he broke the silence in the room. "I'm here now, Jyn," he said softy. "I'm here now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the end of the story, folks.
> 
> Also, in one of Thrawn Trilogy novels, there's a discussion between Han Solo and Garm Bel Iblis about Han and the Imperial Academy. I can't recall the exact line, but I decided to run with the idea that Han and Cassian could have encountered each other briefly, and their mutual apathy toward each other was born. Because I didn't want their dislike to be solely about Leia (whom Cassian respects, but he's obviously not interested in her as anything other than his superior officer).


	8. Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _I wasn't sure what the point of the Rebellion was after that, if there wasn't something to fight for. Because just the Rebellion wasn't enough anymore._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a short chapter, but hopefully the content makes up for the shortness...

Jyn woke feeling warm and safe for the first time in farther back than she could recall. She lay in the bed, registering the feel of someone's chest rising and falling beneath her cheek, fingers idly tracing lines up and down her bicep. She glanced up, wincing a bit as she saw the bruising mixed with scruff on the jaw of the person holding her.

Cassian.

Closing her eyes again, not wanting to end this moment, she let herself remember the night before. Her conversation with Cassian, clearing the misunderstandings that two years of separation had put between them. Him pulling her into his arms when she admitted to needing to keep him close, even if it was just his jacket under her mattress. His arms around her had shattered her emotional restraint, his embrace fully proving to her that he was real, in a way that even her fist hitting his jaw had not.

"When I was finally awake enough to ask about you, Draven handed me a datapad. It contained the reports from the Empire's raid on the Corellian smugglers. When I got to your name on the casualty lists, I thought the spark had gone out of the universe." Cassian's soft voice slid into the silence. "I wasn't sure what the point of the Rebellion was after that, if there wasn't something to fight for. Because just the Rebellion wasn't enough anymore. Not after Scarif, after losing everyone on _Rogue One_ and all the others that died to give us that chance."

Jyn shifted carefully, so she could rest her chin on his chest and look at Cassian. His hand shifted from her arm to her back, thumb steadily stroking her spine through her shirt. Once she had recovered from her emotional storm, she'd noticed that he was favoring his left side, and forced him to lie down, getting off his feet. She'd curled up next to him without hesitation, and they hadn't spoken, just lay there until they fell asleep. 

His face was turned to the ceiling, eyes closed. "But the Rebellion was all I had left. I'd lost everything again. So I kept going."

"I'm sorry," she whispered. 

"I just wish I knew why Draven did that to us."

"I know. I do too."

Cassian turned his head to look at her. "I don't know that I can watch you walk away again, Jyn. But I know I have no right to ask you to stay."

"You're the only one that would have the right," she replied softly. "But I don't know that I can give up what I am doing for the Rebellion now. I'm too used to being my own person to answer to anyone other than, well, you at this point."

"Not even Kaytoo?" he asked her with a raised eyebrow.

"Depends on what he's telling me," she said with a small smile. "But I might be more open to delivering things and people to Rebellion bases now," she added.

"I will keep that in mind." He smiled at her, eyes flicking over her face. "I don't want to leave this room."

"Me either." She swallowed, shifting until she was closer, watching his face carefully. He kept his eyes on hers, his left hand coming up to rest on her side as she leaned in and pressed her lips to his.

He sighed and slid one hand up to the back of her head, deepening the kiss. Jyn stopped thinking, just let herself get lost in being this close to Cassian. 

They continued to kiss unhurriedly, not feeling any need to take this any further. Jyn thought she could happily stay like that forever.

Of course, the universe had other plans.

Behind them, her door opened. "Jyn, Chewbacca and Solo are attempting to replace the port side landing stabilizers--- oh dear. My apologies."

They broke off the kiss, and Jyn turned to glare at Kaytoo. The droid's eyes whirred between them. "I will go now," he said, turning to the door. He stopped and turned back just before leaving. "Cassian, Princess Leia was looking for you." He left and the door shut behind him.

"Because of course Kaytoo would be the one to interrupt us," Cassian said, letting his head fall back against the pillow.

"Better him than Han or Wedge."

"Or the princess." Cassian sighed. "I guess that means we have to get up."

"Yeah, I have to make sure Han isn't breaking my ship. If he wants to mess with ships, that's what the _Falcon_ is for." She leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to Cassian's lips before sitting up and stretching. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cassian watching her, and she smiled as she stood. "You good?" she asked.

"Depends on the context you're asking in," he replied with a smirk as he got up from the bed, brushing a hand over his wrinkled shirt and jacket. When she snickered at him looking so disheveled, he leaned in and kissed her again. "Have dinner with me tonight?" he asked as he pulled away. "If you don't need to leave right away?"

"What, dinner in the base canteen?" she asked, amused.

"It's not exactly the fanciest restaurant on Coruscant, but I like to think the company will more than make up for it." He didn't try to hide the vulnerability in his eyes, and Jyn pushed herself up on her toes to press her lips against his. She could get used to being able to kiss him.

"I'll be honored to have dinner with you," she said. "But you need to get going, you wouldn't want to show up for a meeting with a princess in yesterday's clothing."

His expression turned serious. "Jyn, you know there's nothing between Leia and I--" he started. 

Jyn laughed. "I know. Besides, from what I can see, she's gone on Han, and he feels the same. Let's just hope it doesn't take something like what happened to us for them to admit it." She paused and looked up at him. "Because I do love you, Cassian." She wondered how she knew, they'd known each other for less than a week, and then spend two years thinking each other was dead, but... Lyra Erso had told her daughter to trust the Force, and the Force was telling her this was right.

She was in love with Cassian Andor.

Cassian pulled her into another hug, resting his head on hers again. "I love you too, Jyn," he told her. 

They clung to each other for a few minutes, until Cassian's comlink chimed. He sighed as he pulled it out. "I'll see you at dinner?" he asked.

"At dinner," she said with a smile as he left. 

She idly straightened the covers on the bed before leaving the room. She had to find Han and Chewie and keep them from entirely rewiring both Kay and the _Rook_. And maybe, if she was lucky, she might find a nicer outfit in her small closet that she could wear to dinner.


	9. Future Plans that Cannot be Confirmed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"I would make a horrible member of the Alliance military and I know it. And I think you do too, your highness."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My work has entered the "busy season" and that has cut into my writing time and, sometimes, my writing energy. But I have plans for this story and people in my life (waves to the commentors who know her in real life) who will set Kaytoo on me if I don't finish this. Thanks for being so patient!

"Jyn did not restore my backup tapes to a new KX class body because she wanted a droid, or a body guard, or a former Imperial that could assist her mission for the Rebellion."

Cassian looked up from the Bothan report (the more he read it, the more it sounded like the Empire was trying for another Death Star, damn them) to see K-2SO standing in the doorway to Cassian's office.

"Many members of the Rebellion seem to be ascribing those motives to her. They are incorrect."

Cassian set the report down. "She thought you deserved a chance to live, even if I wasn't alive to restore you," he said.

"Yes. But that was not her only reason." Kaytoo entered the office. The door shut behind him. Cassian stood, wondering what Kaytoo was up to. "She restored me because she needed a friend, even if that is not what she would admit to doing." Kaytoo paused. "Something a particular Rebellion lieutenant did many years ago, though he would never admit it either."

"I didn't--"

"Cassian. I have spent eighteen months constantly analyzing our prior interactions, along with comments and remarks made by those who knew you before you reprogrammed me and Jyn's description of your reaction to my previous incarnation's demise. If I had known that you were still alive, I would have asked Jyn to return me to the Rebellion in order to continue to be your friend."

"I... thank you, Kay." He ran a hand through his hair. "I didn't know the backup was gone until after I had gotten out of the medical bay. It was like losing you all over again."

"I know. Jyn feels bad about that, too. She told me." The droid shifted, looking around the room. "This office is rather depressing."

Cassian couldn't help but laugh at the typical Kaytoo remark. He'd missed the random comments and snark that his friend had provided. "It's functional. No use in putting down a lot of roots when we're buried in ice and the Empire could find us at any minute."

Kaytoo's eyes whirred, focusing back on Cassian. "The cold is not good for the injuries you have sustained, either. You should sit down."

He considered remaining standing, but knowing Kaytoo, the droid would only inform Rieekan or Leia, or Jyn. So he settled back into his chair, not bothering to hide the wince. He'd woken up this morning in far less pain than usual, also feeling far more rested, but a weather front on this section of Hoth had colder than usual temperatures creeping into the base. That cold had eroded the good that sleeping next to Jyn had done.

"Jyn has, for the sixteenth time, informed me that I am free to choose where I stay, and if I wish to stay with the Rebellion when she leaves, that she will accept my choice."

"The sixteenth time?" He didn't know why he was surprised that Kaytoo had counted them.

"She has made the offer fifteen times previously, the last one eight months ago, after we received an invitation to return to the Rebellion. I am presuming that you are the one who sent it, instead of Draven." He paused, and Cassian nodded. "I thought so. But the point it, Jyn is very insistent that I know that I am not required to stay with her."

"But you never left her."

"There was no one to return to that treated me as you did, Cassian. There was an 87.3 percent chance that General Draven would have assigned me to another intelligence operative, and I found the concept to be less than ideal. Equally as unpleasing was the knowledge that there was a 97.594 percent chance of my being reprogrammed if I left Jyn and did not return to the Rebellion."

"So you chose to stay with Jyn."

"It was the most logical course of action at the beginning."

Cassian tilted his head. "And now?"

"She is my friend," Kaytoo said. "As are you. I am uncertain about my choice now. I had also made a promise to myself, to watch her as I thought you would want me to. It seemed to be the best way to honor your memory, as Jyn would have put it. The same way that she honored others we lost."

Cassian sighed, running a hand over his face. "Hearing you speak of Jyn as a friend is surprising."

"I know that I was less than cordial before, but I did not know her as well then, just by what we had determined during our search for her. Also," he added, "I have always suspected this body was rejected as a functional unit because there was something wrong with the wiring in the main logic processor, it appears to have a flaw that allows me to consider certain beings as friends."

He didn't laugh, but only Kaytoo would consider finding people to be friends a flaw in his logic processor. He'd missed that.

"Kay, what are you calculations now? For if you stay with me or with Jyn?"

The droid paused for a long moment. "If I remain here on Hoth, and assist you in your mission, there is a 76.52 chance that Jyn will become more reckless without someone around to temper her reactions, and that leads to an 83.5 percent chance that she will not survive longer than 8.3 standard months. If I stay with her, those odds are reduced significantly. The odds of something happening to you are also significantly lower if I stay with Jyn, assuming you do not return to the field."

"I'm permanently out of the field now, unless we are desperate," Cassian said. "Even with bacta, spinal injuries are nothing to be cavalier about."

"I agree. You are smart to remain in an administrate position. However, that is no guarantee that you will remain entirely unharmed. After all, General Draven was in an administrative position."

Shaking his head, Cassian smiled. "I missed your brand of encouragement, Kay. Artoo tried, but he is still too cheerful."

"I am unique," Kaytoo said, a hint of smugness in his voice.

"And we are all glad for it."

"Cassian, while I did miss your presence, and while I would prefer to stay with you, I find I cannot leave Jyn alone if she is to return to being Guardian."

Looking up at his friend, Cassian nodded. "I think that I will feel better, knowing that you are with Jyn, if that is what you choose to do. If you want to stay, I'm sure we have a place for you. Hopefully, something other than keeping the protocol droids in line," he added with a grin for an old joke between them.

"Well, if you are going to punish me like that, I might as well stay with Jyn." Kaytoo's tone contained his own brand of humor.

"Thank you, Kay," Cassian said abruptly. "For everything. For saving our lives on Scarif, though I know you don't remember that. For staying with Jyn, for wanting to come back." He swallowed against the emotion that threatened to choke him.

Kaytoo tilted his head, then replied very softly. "You are welcome, Cassian. And thank you, for reprogramming me so I could be your friend."

He smiled up at Kaytoo. "You are welcome, my friend."

* * *

"So this is the _Rook_ , huh?"

Jyn stuck her head out from under the console and looked up to see Princess Leia standing in cockpit, one hand resting on the navigator's chair. "Not exactly cutting edge," the woman added.

"It's what the Rebellion gave me," she said. "And it's more reliable than the _Falcon_."

"I heard that!" drifted from the back of the _Rook_. Jyn and Leia exchanged a smile before Jyn went back to the console and Leia's boots appeared nearby as she apparently settled into the co-pilot's seat.

"Is there something I can do for you, Your Highness?" Jyn asked.

"I was hoping to talk to you about Guardian."

"Hard for me to talk about Guardian when I am Guardian."

"Doesn't mean you have to stay Guardian."

Jyn finished ripping out some corroded wiring and set it down. "Hand me that bundle of blue wires," she told the princess. The woman obligingly slid it closer. Jyn picked some up and began stripping the ends. "I know I don't have to stay Guardian, but the fact is, Guardian is useful, and despite the origins of it, I like being Guardian. To be honest," she added as she started to splice the wires in, "having been on my own for the past two years, captain of my own ship, with my own chosen companion, even with the occasional Rebellion mission, I've been spoiled. This is more than I ever had before being tossed into an Imperial prison camp on Wobani. I'm not giving it up now, not even with the reasons I became Guardian turning out to be false."

"We could give you formal rank," Leia began.

"I would make a horrible member of the Alliance military and I know it. And I think you do too, your highness. Besides," she grunted as she shifted position to reach some more wires, "I'm safer, in some ways, as Gaila Theron, cargo ship pilot with a dubiously legal reprogrammed droid, no overt ties to the Rebellion." 

"How so?"

"If I'm caught -

"Which you almost were at Takodana. The Empire knows the _Rook_ transported a high ranking Imperial target. If that information got out to other Imperial ships--"

Jyn reached over and unplugged a wire to transfer it to an input jack next to the one she had pulled it out of. 

"--you'll be a target once you leave Hoth."

"I'm well aware of that," Jyn said, her hands returning to the wire she was replacing. With a few more twists, it was done, and she wound sealant tape around it, covering the exposed parts. Picking up the panel cover, she replaced it. "I've always been aware that I could be compromised, and I've taken steps to try to mitigate my exposure and the Rebellion's exposure."

"Oh. Oh my! Princess Leia!" Her protocol droid's voice got closer as he moved through the ship. "Artoo says the _Rook_ 's transponder has gone offline and an unknown ship is now in the hanger!"

"It should be the _Raven Dee_ ," Jyn said, pushing herself out from under the console and looking at Artoo. He whistled confirmation. 

Leia looked at her, then started laughing. Han appeared in the doorway behind Artoo, one eyebrow raised. "What did I miss?" Chewie peered over Han's head.

Jyn grinned. "I switched the transponder to one of the alternate ship IDs I use when I'm worried about Imperials recognizing the _Rook_."

"Huh. Smart idea," Han said. "But what's got her so tickled?"

Jyn was about to reply when footsteps clanked on the metal decking. Kaytoo's head appeared behind C-3PO. "Why are we now broadcasting the ship ID you use when we're in Imperial space and you are unhappy with General Draven for sending us there?"

Leia's laughter started again, and Cassian slid around C-3PO. "You named a ship after Draven?"

"I had to think of a new ID on the fly, and since I was unhappy with him, I figured if I got shot down, at least he'd be unhappy that I was using his name as a ship name."

Cassian shook his head at her. "So I can expect the same?"

Jyn tilted her head. "Possible. I was rather angry at Draven at the time. No guarantees that I won't be that angry at you."

"We have several other ship IDs that could be used before then," Kaytoo said. "You are concerned the _Rook_ could be compromised after we were identified as having Captain Antilles on board?"

"Princess Leia is," Jyn said. "I was demonstrating that you and I had already prepared for that."

The woman in question stood up, smiling. "It's good to see the Rebellion has such ingenious allies. I'll let you get back to fixing your ship."

"She's pretty much done," Han said.

"He," Kaytoo and Jyn replied in unison. Cassian, Leia, and Han looked between the two of them. "The _Rook_ is a he," Jyn said.

"Anyone else find that unnerving?" Han asked. Chewie growled a disagreement. Cassian shrugged. Leia smiled. "Okay, just me then."

"Well, hopefully you'll have some time to relax before getting back out there," Leia replied. "I have a meeting to get to, unfortunately." She left the ship, and C-3PO and Artoo followed her. Han and Chewie followed as well, arguing over if the landing stabilizers were finished or not.

"If they don't finish those, I will need to start fixing things on the _Falcon_ ," Jyn said.

"I'm sure that will provide them with sufficient motivation," Kaytoo said. "I will inform them we need those finished before tomorrow morning." He left the cockpit.

"Tomorrow morning?" Jyn asked, looking at Cassian. He sat down in the co-pilot's chair.

"We have supplies that were help up by an Imperial tax office on Christophis. We need someone neutral who can go in and get them out. Our slicers are getting the orders in place, but before I had you put down on the mission, I wanted to make sure you would be willing to go."

"When would I have to leave?" She felt a twinge of sadness, thinking they would miss their date.

"Tomorrow morning." Cassian gave her a smile. "I would not want to be the reason you stood me up," he added.

"Making me stand you up would be grounds for an annoyed ship ID," she said, then sighed. "I'll do it."

"I'll make sure you and Kay have the information before you leave in the morning."

"You're assuming he would come with me. He may want to stay."

Cassian stood up and smiled at her. "He already told me he's staying with you."

Jyn would swear later that it was the dust under the console that made her eyes water. Cassian, gentleman that he was, didn't correct her.

* * *

Just before dinner would be served in the canteen, Cassian paused at the end of the _Rook_ 's loading ramp. He didn't know why he was nervous. This was Jyn. All they were doing was eating together in the canteen, same as anyone else on the base.

But this was also the first meal they would have shared together since just before that disastrous council meeting on Yavin IV, before Scarif.

He walked up the cargo ramp into the ship. He was about to call out when he heard Jyn's voice down one of the passage ways. "Cassian said you're staying? I would have thought you would have wanted to stay with him."

"I found myself wanting to both stay with you and stay with him. As putting an exact replica of my memories into another KX droid is not feasible, and would likely result in an inferior version of me for whoever had the copy as a companion, I calculated that I would be of more assistance to you."

"I think that is the sweetest thing you've ever said to me." Jyn's voice was warm with affection for Kaytoo. It made Cassian happy to hear. They were, after all, his two favorite people in the universe.

"It is?" Kaytoo asked. "I should check my programming for flaws. I would not want to repeat it."

That had Cassian laughing out loud. He stopped when Jyn appeared in the passageway. The black leggings and green long sleeved tunic were nothing inappropriate for the base, and yet Cassian felt like he was seeing a rare side of Jyn that was just for him. He wanted to show her off and, perversely, make her change back into something more 'her'. "Oh," she said. "I didn't realize you were here."

"I just arrived. You look good," he said.

She gave him a shy smile as she moved forward. "So do you." He'd put on something other than his uniform, though it was still just pants and a similar type shirt.

"Shall we?" he asked as Kaytoo appeared behind them.

"Make sure you have her back so she can get the proper eight hours of sleep before flying," Kaytoo said. "Oh, and don't do anything I wouldn't do."

As Cassian tried to figure out how to answer that, Jyn looked back at Kaytoo. "So, punching Stormtroopers while providing sarcastic commentary is allowed?"

"There are worse first dates," the droid said before heading to the cockpit.

"I think that would make this our fourth date," Cassian said as he offered Jyn his arm. She took it as they walked down the ramp.

"How do you figure that?"

"If we are using the 'Stormtroopers and sarcasm' scale, then our first three dates were two years ago." He couldn't bring himself to name the planets, but he saw when she understood.

"At least this time you're buying me dinner."

"I provided ration bars!" he protested as they entered the canteen.

"They are not dinner, Andor," she said with a sideways look.

"Better than some places I've eaten," he grumbled as they got their meals and found a table far away from everyone else. 

Luck, or the Force, was with them, and despite some of the looks and whispers, no one tried to join them. Instead, they got to talk about the past two years, the missions that Jyn had run, the things Cassian had been involved with that weren't classified. Their respective childhoods. Cassian's time at the Imperial Academy, Jyn's time with Saw Gerrera.

All the things they might have known about each other by now, if Draven hadn't interfered.

"Maybe we should be grateful to Draven," Jyn finally said, long after their meals had been finished and most others had moved on from the canteen.

"What do you mean?"

"I was pretty raw after Scarif, after losing everyone but you to the Empire, including my father, Saw, and even my mother. I'm fairly certain that I might have been a little too clingy to you once you'd woken up, and I would have hated myself for that. That wouldn't have been a good way to start a relationship."

"So, what, we both needed the time apart to heal ourselves before we were ready for this?" he gestured to the two of them.

"Maybe? I could have done without thinking you were dead for two years, though."

"Me too," he said. "But we are here now."

"We are." She smiled and stood. "Walk me back to my quarters, General?"

"I would be honored, Captain Erso," he replied. At her frown, he shrugged. "You are the captain of the _Rook_ ," he reminded her. "But if you wanted Rebellion rank..."

She shook her head as they walked the halls. "As I told the princess, I would make a horrible Rebellion soldier. I'm happy with being an independent agent."

Cassian nodded, understanding her position, even as he wanted to keep her close. But she was needed as Guardian, no matter that it affected him personally.

When they reached her door, Jyn opened it and turned to him, a smile on her face. "The night doesn't have to end at my door," she said with a smile.

"You have to fly in the morning," Cassian reminded her, as much as he wanted to accept the invitation. "I shouldn't."

Jyn leaned up, pressing a kiss to his lips. "We're rebels, aren't we?" Her seductive smile chipped away at his reluctance. "Let's rebel for one night."

He pulled her closer, kissing her again. She moved backwards, and he followed her into the room, the door shutting behind him.

* * *

In the morning, Cassian stood in the hangar as Jyn and Kaytoo left for Christophis on their mission. He'd kissed her goodbye in the cargo hold before stepping off the ship to a safe distance. Wedge and Luke came up next to him. "I'm kinda going to miss her," Wedge said. 

"She should be back within a few weeks," Cassian said. Jyn still had cargo to deliver before coming back to Hoth. After all, her clients were paying her to deliver for them, not just the Rebellion.

"Good," Luke replied. "Han apparently owes her money now, something about the port side landing stabilizers. I want to see how she's going to collect from him."

"Five credits on her getting Chewie to help," Wedge said.

"You're on," Luke replied.

Cassian shook his head at the two and headed back to his office.

* * *

Han found him in his office two weeks later, after the reports of Jyn's ship going missing off Christophis had reached the Rebellion. The smuggler said nothing, but handed Cassian a bottle of Correllian rum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't kill me......


	10. Conspiracies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Halfway across the hanger, Andor jerked to a stop and looked up at the ceiling. "Why is there no spark in the universe?" he asked plaintively._

"So what's the plan?"

Han looked up from the _Falcon_ 's navicomputer and raised his eyebrows at Wedge. Luke was standing behind him. Both looked expectant. "The plan?"

"We're not leaving Guardian out there," Wedge said. "Not after all she's done for the Rebellion."

"I know Leia and Rieekan have vetoed a formal Rebellion mission to go after her, but you're not exactly formally a member of the Rebellion," Luke added. "Plus you've got the course for Christophsis up on the navicomputer."

"She's only missed a check in by a week. We've done worse," Han pointed out.

"Yeah, but this is killing General Andor. He just got her back, and he's the one who sent her back out there," Wedge replied. "The Rebellion practically abandoned her once, with Draven. We shouldn't do that again."

Chewie growled an agreement from behind Luke. Han sighed. "Okay, there is a plan." He wasn't going to let Tanith - Jyn - whatever she was calling herself now - disappear without him looking for her. The issue was Andor, of course. The man had been informed that there would be no rescue, and he wasn't one to go against that. Maybe if the rest of his _Rogue One_ crew had been here, but then again, if they had, then the whole stupid 'Let's tell the survivors that each other is dead' plan would have been scrapped as it should have been.

"How can we help?"

Han looked at Wedge and Luke. "Okay, first of all, anyone in the rebellion going with me willingly is going against the General's orders."

"We know that," Luke said.

"What about unwillingly?" Wedge asked. Han grinned at the kid.

"Well, that might be different. All I'll say is, if I ask for your help later, don't be in a hurry to leave the _Falcon_ once it's done, okay? If I tell you more, it could blow the whole thing."

The two pilots nodded, before heading off the ship. Han looked at Chewie. "Everything good to go?"

Chewie nodded, adding in that Luke and Wedge might be better assistants in their fighters.

"Yeah, but if they take those, then the Rebellion knows something is up. This way, well, we've kidnapped three ranking members of the Rebellion. They can kick us out, but those three will be safe." He stood up from his chair, stretching. "Time to put phase one into play. Keep an eye on her, Chewie."

The Wookie trilled a response and Han headed to a storage locker to pick up a particular bottle of Corellian Rum.

* * *

"I shouldn't have let her go. I just got her back and I killed her again."

Wedge looked across the drunken form of General Andor at Han. "What was in that Corellian rum?" he asked in a low voice.

"It might have been from a special batch made for beings with Wookie-sized alcohol tolerances."

"Kriffing Force, Solo. You might have killed him!" Wedge said as he adjusted his grip on the surprisingly lax and heavy Alliance Intelligence officer.

"I made sure he didn't drink too much. And I've got anti-hangover stuff in the _Falcon_." They turned the corner into the hangar. Fortunately, it was late at night, and the hanger doors were closed. No one was watching them, so long as they could be fairly quiet. It seemed that Andor was a pretty quiet and morose drunk tonight, only occasionally mumbling to himself, usually about Jyn Erso.

Halfway across the hanger, Andor jerked to a stop and looked up at the ceiling. "Why is there no spark in the universe?" he asked plaintively. Wedge glanced around, but no one was paying attention to them. "Don't tell me all is as the Force will it, Chirrut," the drunken man said angrily, still staring at the ceiling. "The Force can go kriff itself."

"Come on, Andor," Han said, tugging at the general. "You can yell at Îmwe in the ship."

"Good," Andor slurred, letting himself be led again. "He needs to be yelled at."

Wedge sighed as they moved toward the _Falcon_. They finally made it up the ramp, getting the man settled into a bunk. Han looked at Wedge once they were sure the general wasn't going to roll out of the bunk by trapping the blankets under the mattress. Wedge thought he heard Andor mutter something about feeling like a burrito, whatever that was. Might be something from Fest.

"Got spare blankets?" Wedge asked before Han could say anything. He'd seen the flight board for the morning. The _Falcon_ was scheduled to leave in the morning on a multi-day scouting missing for alternate bases, and Wedge suspected that General Andor would be "forgotten" in the bunks when Han took off, and his scouting mission would start near Christophsis. Luke might be stuck in a long meeting tonight on the overall plan for the Rebellion for the next six months but Wedge had no plans for the night. Which might have been by design. After all, Luke was the leader of Rogue squadron. He couldn't just leave if there was a chance they might be called into action - like to rescue Jyn Erso. On the other hand, Wedge shouldn't leave, but he'd spent several days with Jyn Erso, so him disappearing to find her wouldn't be unusual. And, in theory, he was still on 'leave' to 'recover' from his mission to Kafrene and the outcome of it. So he and Luke had agreed that Wedge was the best person to help Han with a drunk General Andor and to get Jyn Erso back. Where Wedge intended to metaphorically sit on the woman until she and Andor figured things out. 

If he literally sat on her, she would kill him. Probably before he ever made it to the sitting part. 

Han was looking at Wedge, then nodded to a panel near Andor's head. "Spare blankets and a pillow. There's a bunk next door."

"Nah, I'll stay here, in case he rolls out of that... burrito, as he called it."

"Food item on Fest and few other places. Not bad if you make it right. If they make it wrong, well," Han shrugged. "Anyway. I'll be two doors down the hall. Figure I should say here in case someone comes looking for him."

Wedge nodded. "Night, Han."

"Night." Han left, and Wedge made himself a nest on the decking. It wasn't the worst thing he'd slept on, and frankly, the _Falcon_ was a little warmer than the rest of Hoth. 

Before he fell asleep, he silently asked the spirits of three men he had never met, but wished he'd been able to meet, to look out for Jyn Erso and Kaytoo, wherever they were. He figured Baze Malbus, Chirrut Îmwe, and Bodhi Rook would be the best ones to watch over them, at least until Han, Wedge, Chewie, and Cassian could find them.

* * *

Luke didn't look up from running diagnostics on his X-wing the next morning as the _Falcon_ took off. He knew that Andor and Wedge were on it with Han. Andor would be unhappy, whenever he realized what was going on, but he couldn't help that. 

"Think they'll find her?"

Luke looked up to see Leia standing on the access ladder to the X-wing's cockpit, her eyes on the faint sight of the _Falcon_ 's engines. "Who?"

Leia gave him a look. "I know that Han and Wedge escorted a very drunk Cassian Andor to the _Falcon_ last night, and I know that the three men, along with Chewie, never left the ship before it left this morning on its scouting mission. Now, while I'm pretty certain General Andor has no idea that he's off looking for Commander Erso, you can't tell me that you, Han, and Wedge, don't know what it going on."

Luke sighed, wondering how in the world they thought they would get this past Leia. "Andor doesn't know, but yeah, the rest is true."

"Good thing I authorized this mission, then," she said with a small smile. "After all, I'd hate to have to court martial your best friends, as well as whatever I would have to do to Han."

"You... authorized this? I thought you and Rieekan--"

"We turned down a formal mission by the Alliance because we couldn't spare the manpower. But I did authorized a mission by Han in his non-Alliance ship, with a few discrete Alliance personnel, to make inquiries while Han is on the scouting mission. Not that they know that. And you are not to tell them, Commander Skywalker," she ordered. "Let them sweat a bit. But Commander Erso and K-2SO are too valuable to the Rebellion as Guardian to have them disappear without a search party at the very least."

"I won't tell them." He frowned. "Wait, Commander Erso? I thought she was free-lance."

"Draven made her free-lance, for whatever reason." Leia leaned her arms on the edge of the cockpit, eyes troubled. "After we moved from Yavin, when we promoted Andor to Commander, he told me that he'd nearly lost his best asset to a fantasy that had no place in war. This was after the Correllian raid, so I didn't think anything about it."

"But it might have been that if Jyn had stayed with the rebellion, Andor might not have been as willing to get his hands dirty in intelligence?"

"Maybe. I don't know." She smiled at Luke. "I'm not a Jedi, I can't tell what people are thinking."

"I can't either," Luke reminded her. He got impressions of emotions, sometimes, but nothing that would be considered an invasion of privacy. "But still, Commander Erso?"

Leia shrugged. "She says she'd make a terrible Alliance soldier. I disagree. Besides, if she has the rank, she can get assistance at any Alliance location while she's out as Guardian."

"She'll hate it." He grinned as a thought occurred to him. "Any chance of promoting Wedge if he pulls this off? Since you know Han won't take a commission."

She looked at him. "I will definitely consider it. Why, you thinking of leaving Rogue Squadron?"

"No. But you never know what the empire will do. I know they made me a commander because of the Death Star, and I'm not convinced that being a Jedi didn't figure into it, but Wedge was at the Death Star, too, had my back until his ship was hit. Seems like the Alliance forgot that in honoring me and Han."

Leia pushed herself upward and kissed Luke's cheek. "You're a good man, Commander. I'll definitely see what I can do." She smiled at him and made her way down the ladder to where Threepio stood, conversing with Artoo. He watched her leave, and silently asked the Force to watch over Han, Wedge, Cassian, Jyn, and Kaytoo. 

He worried they would need all the help they could get.

* * *

_Two Weeks Prior_

"What's wrong?"

Kaytoo had hesitated over the navicomputer's calculations just a fraction too long. That wasn't normal for the droid. Jyn's hand dropped to her blaster as Kaytoo looked at her, then extended his probe attachment and connected it to the computer. Instantly, text scrolled across the screen.

_The ship is heavier than anticipated by approximately the weight of an average male human being,_ it read. _We either have a stowaway, or the manifest lied about the cargo._

Aloud, however, Kaytoo said, "The computer appears to be running a little sluggish in its calculations. We may need to have it examined at our next location to ensure it is getting accurate information."

"I agree," Jyn said, even as she pulled out her blaster and turned in her seat. "We should have enough time at our next stop." She stood up, getting ready to search the ship, or the cargo. If Cassian had her smuggling something unexpected, she was going to chew him out when they got back to Hoth.

She barely got to the doorway when a man in an Imperial uniform appeared, blaster in his hand aimed at her. She barely had time to take in the reddish-blond hair and military bearing, and lack of military rank identifiers or code cylinders, before he spoke. "My apologies, Captain Theron, but I'm afraid I require the assistance of you and your droid."

Jyn didn't bother raising her blaster, though she wondered how this man knew who she was. She wasn't traveling as Gaila Theron, this trip, and this was the _Raven Dee_ to the port on Christophsis and any other curious ships. "Who are you?"

"He is General Crix Madine," Kaytoo replied for her. "A member of the Empire's ground forces, one of their best commando unit leaders."

The man nodded. "I see your droid still has his Imperial knowledge, even if you somehow managed to reprogram him."

"What do you want?" Jyn demanded, unwilling to play this game any longer. If she was going to die here, well, then she would. But she would take Madine down with her.

Abruptly, the man let go of the blaster, letting it spin on the finger he still had in the trigger guard, and holding out to Jyn. "I'm here to ask for your help in defecting to the Rebellion."

For long moments, no one spoke. Finally, Jyn made a gesture to Kay. The droid gave an electronic sigh, but she heard him flipping switches and moving to reprogram the navicomputer for a destination not on their manifest. The ship jolted as they slid into hyperspace.

"All right, general," Jyn said once they were in hyperspace, reaching out to take the blaster from him. "Let's talk."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I don't know if Madine's defection is covered in anything currently considered canon. But hey, this is an AU anyway! *jazz hands*


	11. Holding Pattern

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"Good point. Now let's go get our girl and her ship, General."_
> 
>  
> 
> _"Don't let her hear you say that," Cassian warned him. "No matter how true it is."_

Cassian woke with the taste of dead Ewok in his mouth and a tauntaun attempting to dance on his head. Blearily, he remembered Solo coming by his office with Corellian rum.

He didn't remember much after that.

He cracked open one eye to see unfamiliar walls. At least the lights were off, he thought with a groan as his headache didn't appreciate the movement of his eyelid, either in opening or closing. He heard noises in the room, but didn't have the strength to open his eyes again. He felt an autoinjector as his neck, then something rushing into his veins. He would have complained, but within a few moments, the headache had lessened immensely and he could open his eyes again to see Wedge standing next to him, offering him a glass of something that smelled like the specially fortified water the officers would force on new recruits after they'd gone on benders. It smelled horrible, but yet once he'd carefully sat up and taken a sip, he found himself drinking it down eagerly, despite the smell and taste. He could feel it working with whatever drugs Wedge had given him to push the hangover back to something manageable.

"Where's Solo?" he asked when he was done. "I'm going to kill him."

"Flying the _Falcon_."

Cassian looked around. This looked like... "And where are we?" he asked softly, knowing some of his anger had to be coming through.

"The _Falcon_." Wedge moved back quickly, out of Cassian's reach. Cassian didn't bother with Wedge. He could threaten the man later, when they were back on Hoth. Because now that his head wasn't pounding, he could feel the pulse of the hyperdrive, and knew they were traveling somewhere. He slid out of the bed and headed for the door, not caring if wedge followed.

Making his way to the cockpit, he noticed he was right, the telltale streaks of hyperspace confirming that they were in transit.

"Solo," he growled, stalking forward to grab the collar of the man's jacket.

"Nice to see you finally join us. I didn't think you'd be that much of a lightweight," the Corellian man said over his shoulder.

Cassian leaned in. "I'm not, unless I'm given a Wookie's bottle of rum," he snarled. He saw Solo's flinch at that, and smiled grimly. Solo had been careful to keep the label of the bottle away from him, but Cassian had only woken up with a hangover like this one once before, and that was after drinking with a Wookie in a cantina on Nal Hutta. Solo's flinch had just confirmed what he had suspected. "So, what was so important to get me that drunk and onto your ship?" he continued, not moving away from his position. Chewie was watching him warily, but so far, the Wookie hadn't interfered.

He heard Wedge approach behind him as Solo turned to look at Cassian. "I don't care what the Alliance Council says. Jyn deserves better than to have them shrug their shoulders, not after what Draven did to her. So since you're the intelligence expert, and she's your asset, I figured we'd go look for her."

Cassian stared at him. "You could have _asked_ me." Did he think that Cassian didn't want to find Jyn? That he hadn't railed against the Council's decision?

"But by not asking, you aren't in trouble with the Rebellion, and neither is Wedge."

Looking back, Cassian saw the X-wing pilot shrug. "She went above and beyond to make sure I wasn't caught by the Empire. I owe her. So I didn't ask what Han was up to when he asked me to help you to the _Falcon_ after you two had been drinking."

Chewbacca growled out an unhappy sentence. Cassian let go of Solo to turn to the Wookie. "Sorry, Chewie," he said. "If I had been given a choice," he said pointedly, "I would have saved some of the bottle for you."

"We're a few hours out from Christophsis if you want to get some more sleep," Solo offered, ignoring the look his co-pilot was giving him.

Cassian eased himself into the chair right behind the captain, not trusting the man to not try something else. "I'm fine staying here," he said. Chewie laughed at the way Han flinched. Wedge gave Cassian a wary look as he sat down in the other chair. Good. They should be wary of him. "So, what is the plan?" Cassian asked.

"We land on Christophsis, Chewie and I make some inquiries, you two stay with the ship. Wedge may still be known as a defector, and if I risk you, Jyn will kill me."

Cassian wanted to object, but it would be better if Han and Chewie were the ones to question the people at the spaceport. They could run easier than he could if something went wrong. And while the hangover was lessened, it wasn't gone, and he could feel the throbbing in both his head and his legs and back. Sitting helped, somewhat.

"Okay," he said. "But stay in contact. If we have to get you out, I want to be able to do so quickly."

"Hey, it's me," Solo said with a smirk.

Cassian stared at him until the smirk disappeared. "That is what I am afraid of."

* * *

_Two weeks prior_

Jyn kept her blaster in her hand as she watched Madine. The man had settled into the navigator's chair, hands in his lap, watching her calmly. "I'm sure you have questions," he finally said.

"They can wait," she replied as Kaytoo picked up his scanner and ran it over Madine. He looked up at Jyn when it was done.

"He's clean. No trackers that I can find."

"Good." She knew Kaytoo had already turned off their transponder before jumping to hyperspace, making it harder to track them. She hated the thought of burning yet another ID, though. Maybe they wouldn't have to.

"I don't have any trackers. That would conflict with defecting from the Empire."

"I'm not sold on you being a defector," she said bluntly. "Even if you are, the fact that you chose my ship puts me in danger from anyone looking for you, Imperial or Rebel."

Madine raised an eyebrow. "You think the Rebellion would harm you?"

"If they knew you were here and thought you were a danger to them, yes," she replied. Well, Draven would have. Cassian she wasn't sure about. But it didn't hurt to have Madine thinking that. "But I am curious as to why you think surrendering to me will get you to the Rebellion."

Madine looked between her and Kaytoo. "The Empire doesn't make it easy to defect, not if you are as high ranking as I am. But I've seen too much, and after Alderaan and Jedha, and even Scarif," he shook his head, "it became clear to me that the Empire is not what it was supposed to be. We were supposed to be bringing peace to the Galaxy, instead, we're causing more pain than we should. I can't be a part of that anymore. I've had to plan this in secret, but just leaving the Empire would not guarantee anything. I needed a reliable contact with the Rebellion. It took me a year to get things in place for that meeting on Kafrene with Wedge Antilles."

He paused like he was waiting for something. Jyn watched him, not asking anything, not reacting. She knew Kaytoo was doing the same. Neither of them could afford to let slip any more than they had at this point. Not and ensure the Rebellion wasn't compromised.

"I was supposed to be the person that met with him. However, someone else found out he was there, and decided to run their own op - to either capture him or to track him back to the Rebel base. When he escaped, they jumped the gun and didn't wait for you to get him to the base." He gave them a smile. "They paid the price at the hands of the Rebellion. But it set me back, until I landed on Christophsis and realized that they were holding supplies meant for the Rebellion. So I sabotaged the trackers and waited until the Rebellion sent someone else to pick them up. Fortunately for me, they sent you."

Jyn snorted. "You expect me to believe that?"

"The Empire has known of Guardian for a while, Captain Theron. Imperial Intelligence has been trying to determine the best way to use you in their plans for the Rebellion. I just decided to use you in my plans to defect first." He looked between them. "Consider the knowledge a gift to the Rebellion."

"Considering that if you are defecting, everything you know about the Empire will be a gift to the Rebellion, that is not much of an incentive to trust you," Kaytoo said.

To his credit, while he looked frustrated, Madine didn't say anything rash. Instead he looked at Jyn. "Then what will it take?" he asked.

Jyn shrugged. "Time," she replied. "I've got cargo to deliver, time to spare, and you need to prove that you're not tracking me, sending messages, or anything like that. If I'm satisfied, then maybe I'll see what I can do about contacting the Rebellion on your behalf." Which might mean leaving Madine on Takodana in Maz's hands so Jyn and Kaytoo could contact Cassian and see what the Rebellion wanted to do.

 _I'm sorry, Cassian,_ she thought, _It's going to take me longer to get back to you than I'd hoped. But I can't put you in danger._ She looked at Kaytoo, and knew he was thinking the same thing.

Madine's defection would be a huge coup for the Rebellion, but until they could be sure this wasn't a trap, keeping away from the Rebellion was the only thing they could do to keep it safe.

* * *

_Now_

Wedge idly shuffled a deck of sabacc cards he'd found in the same niche as his bedding the night before. He lounged on the seating near the _Falcon_ 's dejarik table, watching General Andor pace the room. He didn't blame the man for being unhappy. Being kidnapped usually did that to a person.

Being forced to wait behind as the man who had kidnapped you went looking for what had happened to the woman you loved, well, that definitely wouldn't help at all.

"Odds on us having to rescue the two of them from something?" Wedge asked.

Andor dropped into a chair across the lounge. "As Kaytoo would say, they're high. Very high." He let out a noise of frustration. "This was easier back at Echo Base."

"What was?"

"Waiting for news, for information. I had my network to check on, other things to keep me busy. Here," he shrugged. "I have nothing but time, and that is dangerous for a spy."

"How come?"

"Too much time to think, to second guess ourselves. To regret things we've done. I probably would have gone mad while recovering if Draven hadn't given me intel to analyze. But here, I don't even dare contact the Alliance. Too dangerous if it gets intercepted while we're still on the ground."

"Good point." Wedge set the cards down on the dejarik table. "So, General, I had a thought on looking for Guardian."

Andor looked up at him. "I think, after you've kidnapped me and treated me for a wampa-sized hangover, you can call me Cassian, Wedge."

The pilot blinked, then nodded. "Okay, Cassian."

"So, your thought?"

"Takodana," Wedge said. "We stopped there en route back to Hoth, and I overheard Jyn talking to someone there. Someone who was telling her to come home."

"Maz?" Cassian asked, looking intently at Wedge. "She knew Jyn was alive?"

"She knew Jyn, and it sounded like she knew you were alive, too."

"I've been to Maz's place in the past two years. I know she keeps her own council but to not tell me that Jyn was alive..." The general paused. "She kept telling me to have faith, that all hope was not lost. I thought she meant the Rebellion, not Jyn."

"Well, if she knows Jyn, she might know how to get in contact with her outside of Rebellion channels. While Guardian isn't answering our messages, she might answer someone else's." He shrugged. "The only other idea I have depends on if you know her cargo customers."

"She wouldn't tell me. Said some of them were people who wanted to be off the radar of the Empire and the Rebellion. And as that is what is paying for her to keep Guardian going, I couldn't argue with her."

"Draven really did screw her over, didn't he?"

"Screwed both of us over. And I don't think we'll ever know why."

Wedge didn't really have a response to that. So he said nothing and picked up the deck of cards again.

"Wedge. Thank you."

He looked up at the general, confused.

"For this." Cassian gestured to the _Falcon_. "You didn't have to go along with this. I know you did it for Jyn, not me, but thank you."

"Hey," Wedge said with a smile. "It wasn't just for her."

Boots sounded on the ramp, and both Wedge and Cassian went for their blasters, aiming at the entryway. It opened to reveal Han and Chewie, both looking grim. Han looked at their blasters. "Expecting trouble?"

"Always," Cassian responded. "What did you find out?"

Han dropped onto the seating around the dejarik table as Chewie closed the door. "It's not good. There's a lot of activity in the Imperial areas. Apparently, some bigwig general has gone missing."

"Madine, commando unit general. Disappeared... oh kriff." Cassian's eyes widened.

"Yeah, oh kriff is right. He disappeared two weeks ago, and the rumor is he was either taken by the Rebellion or he defected, but either way, the ship _Raven Dee_ is implicated." 

"So, Jyn either kidnapped an Imperial commando general, or she is how he escaped the Empire." Wedge looked between the two men.

Chewie interjected something, and Han nodded. "Chewie's right, either way it explains why she's been dark for two weeks."

"She wouldn't have kidnapped Madine. Jyn had no reason to. But if he thought she was a way to get to the Rebellion, then he might have kidnapped her." Cassian sighed. "And she would go dark to protect the Rebellion."

"Then I think we should go to Takodana."

"Maz?" Han asked.

"We stopped there on our way to Hoth. I heard her and Maz talking."

"Well, if anyone could find Jyn, it's Maz." Han pushed himself to his feet and headed for the cockpit, Chewie following. Wedge looked over at Cassian, who was running a hand through his hair.

"I'm going to need to check in with the Alliance. See if there has been any word," the spy said.

Nodding, Wedge slid his blaster back into the holster. "I'll go see if Han needs help."

"You know he won't."

"No, he won't. But," Wedge shrugged, "it's not like I have a lot to do here. We didn't exactly bring my X-wing."

"Yeah, but you're too recognizable as a member of the Rebellion in it. We like you alive, not in Imperial custody or dead."

"Wasn't sure you liked me much at all, to be honest. You didn't seem to like most people."

Cassian looked at him, then sighed. "After Scarif, the spark had gone out of the universe," he finally said. "I was questioning my place in the Rebellion, since I couldn't be in the field and Jyn was gone. I couldn't get too close to people while I was in the field and once I was out, there wasn't anyone I knew in the Rebellion that well. It's been a slow process, but you and Luke helped by creating Rogue Squadron, Artoo helped by being Artoo, and Leia, well," Cassian shrugged. "She refused to be anything other than a friend once I was released from medical."

"She is rather stubborn," Wedge said with a smile. "Here's hoping she doesn't court martial all of us."

"She won't. Just Han, probably."

"We're cleared for takeoff in ten," Han yelled back.

The two men stood, and Cassian looked over at Wedge. "I'll contact the Rebellion when we get to Takodana. Want me to ask Luke to bring your X-wing?"

"No, because I don't want him flying it. He'll mess up my settings," Wedge replied, shaking his head. "I guess I'm just grounded until we get back. Well, unless we find Jyn. She let me fly her ship - after Kaytoo vouched for me."

"That is high praise. Kaytoo is very picky about who he copilots for."

"I was more worried about her. If I hurt her ship, she was going to kill me."

Cassian laughed. "He's her baby, it appears." He gave Wedge a look. "Like your X-wing."

Wedge laughed and nodded. "Good point. Now let's go get our girl and her ship, General."

"Don't let her hear you say that," Cassian warned him. "No matter how true it is."

Wedge mimed sealing his lips shut as they left the lounge.

* * *

"I don't believe that is a sound strategy."

Madine gave Kaytoo a look as he moved his pieces. Jyn didn't smirk, but she moved her pieces and rolled the dice. Kaytoo looked at Madine, who blinked as half of his remaining armies were wiped out with the move.

"I did warn you. Gaila is very good at this game." 

There was a beep from the cockpit, and Jyn smirked as she got up to check it, letting Madine plan his next move and trusting Kaytoo to ensure he didn't cheat. Not that Kaytoo could see how cheating would help Madine, the Imperial general was down to an eighth of his starting army, and Jyn's forces were set to overrun his flag within four moves.

"I think I'm glad she's Guardian and not a Rebellion general. This was my strategy against armed resistance on Felucia and while it worked there, if she had been in charge..." Madine shook his head. "It's a good thing the Empire never got her on their side."

Kaytoo filed away the use of the third person, instead of the first, when Madine referred to the Empire. He'd only made one slip, in the first day on the _Rook_ , and he'd looked annoyed by it. Which could have been calculated on his part, to gain their trust.

It hadn't worked with Jyn, though. She didn't trust Madine and she didn't bother to hide it. The man was never left alone on the ship except at night, when he was locked in his quarters. Fortunately, this ship was small enough that the quarters did not have their own communications system other than the ship only intercom, and that was on a separate circuit board entirely from the main communications array.

Madine had not balked at any of it, not the lack of alone time, not the quarters being locked. Not even when Jyn would lock him in quarters when they were delivering cargo. Then again, Madine not being visible at those times was a boon for the alleged defector.

"We've got clearance to land on Takodana," Jyn said, coming back into the lounge area. She settled back onto the seat across the holo-table from Madine. "Still a few more hours out though."

"Enough time for you to finish devastating my army then," Madine replied with a smile. Jyn smiled back at him. Not the same smile she gave to Kaytoo or Cassian, but one that indicated her pleasure in the game. One that she had taught to Kaytoo, and that had been taught to her by Saw Gerrera. His way of teaching tactics and strategy to his foster daughter. She'd learned them well. Kaytoo was a strategic analysis droid and he sometimes had trouble figuring out Jyn's moves. The two of them were currently tied for wins. Madine wasn't so lucky.

"You have the option to surrender," Jyn pointed out cheerfully.

Madine gave her a look. "There is no strategic value to surrender in this particular campaign," he pointed out, moving a few lone fighters. Kaytoo calculated in his head, but was unable to see where Madine's strategy was leading.

Judging by the way she sat up, eyes narrowing, but with a smile of interest on her lips, neither did Jyn.

Looking between the two players, Kaytoo realized the odds now could be approaching as close to statistically even as they could get.

This would be interesting.

* * *

Han looked back at Andor when the man sighed. "Bad news?" he asked.

"No news. Not on Jyn, or Madine. Neither the _Rook_ or the _Raven Dee_ has been seen since it disappeared, and there has been no information on Madine either." He sat back in the chair. Chewie was back working on an issue with one of the coolant systems, and Wedge was helping him. It was only the two men in the cockpit while Han had been monitoring the trip and Andor had been contacting the Alliance.

"The Rebellion very angry?" Han asked.

"According to Luke, Leia is not thrilled, and she's apparently planning her speech to us when we get back."

"Figured that might happen." He still didn't regret this, though. "Hopefully Maz will have heard something, or be able to get word to Jyn."

"Hopefully." Andor set the headphones he had been using down on the console.

"You didn't send her out here to die, you know." When Andor looked up at him, Han shrugged. "You said that when you were drunk. That you just got her back and you'd killed her. You didn't do that."

Andor sighed. "It feels that way. And it probably will until I _know_ that I didn't get her killed." The man got up and left before Han could say anything else.

Han shook his head and checked the navicomputer to make sure they were still on course for Takodana. The sooner they found Jyn, the better, and the faster they could get back to Hoth and Leia's inevitable wrath.

* * *

When they walked down the ramp of the _Falcon_ on Takodana, Maz stood at the end, tapping her foot and holding a datapad. She scowled at them. "You couldn't have gotten here an hour ago?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear, at some point, they will meet up again.
> 
> Also, the game that Jyn and Madine are playing is, in my head, a weird combination of Warhammer 40k, Risk, and Stratego, that Saw used to teach Jyn (and others) tactics, etc. I don't play Warhammer, I just watch the guys that do until my D&D game starts. But I needed a game for Jyn and Madine and Kaytoo to play and neither dejarik nor sabacc fit my needs.


	12. Intertwine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Madine came to stand at the end of the ramp. "Admiral Ackbar," he said, nodding. "I hereby surrender myself to the Rebellion, as a defector from the Empire, and offer my knowledge to the Rebellion's use."_

_One Hour Earlier_

"Well, you're back here quicker than I thought," Maz said as Jyn exited the _Rook_.

"Not exactly by choice," Jyn replied. She handed Maz a datapad. "I can't stay, either. But I need you to get that to the Rebellion."

"Child," Maz began.

"I've been there, Maz. I know he's alive. He knows I'm alive." She stared at the Takodanan woman. "But if both of us are going to stay that way, I can't go back just yet. This explains why," she said, holding out the datapad again. "I need you to get it to him."

Maz stared at her, then finally nodded. "You're in trouble."

"I don't know," she said. "But that's why the Rebellion needs to get that information. You're the only intermediary I trust. I know you try to stay out of the political game, but I really need your help on this."

"I'll send it, but why don't you stay, let them meet you here?"

"Too dangerous, for me and for you." Jyn jerked her head at the Imperial-allied ships that were across the water from where she had landed. "They'll be too interested in this. Better that I keep moving."

Maz took the datapad and finally nodded. "So you are running to save him this time."

"Yes. And I know he would do the same."

"Yes, he would."

She didn't question how Maz knew. The pirate queen often knew things that she shouldn't, and that was just her way. "But if you get that to him then maybe I can stop running for a moment. Or longer." If the Empire knew who she was, knew Guardian, she might have to reinvent herself again. 

And maybe this time, she could do it with Cassian at her side. 

"Is there any other message to give him?" Maz asked. 

Jyn smiled. "Tell him I'm not running under the name _Dora Na_. He'll understand." She gave Maz a small bow and headed back into the ship, to get it ready to fly to the first proposed rendezvous point. 

It was all in Cassian's hands now.

* * *

_Now_

Cassian let Han take the lead with the irritated Maz Kanata.

"We had to make sure we weren't tracked off our last port, Maz. Why?"

The Takodanan woman turned to Cassian. "Your lady left half an hour ago."

"Jyn was here?" He couldn't keep the hopeful note out of his voice. 

"She was. Finally stopped running, that girl, and went home as I kept telling her." She shook her head. "Whoever decided telling you two the other was dead should be given over to the Empire."

"They killed him eight months ago," Cassian said.

"Hm." She handed Cassian the datapad. "She left this for you. Didn't want to stay, thought it might put me in danger."

Cassian opened the file and stuck a chip in the datapad to run decryption on Guardian's file. It took seconds, and he sighed. 

_In possession of high ranking Imperial defector,_ the first sentence said. 

"She's right. She was protecting you." He looked at Han. "We were right, and we need to go."

"Don't let her run again," Maz ordered him. 

He looked down at her. "I don't intend to let her run without me with her."

"Good. Now go. And next time," she told Han, "bring the Wookie."

"Yes, ma'am," Han drawled as he moved back up the ramp. 

"Thank you," Cassian told Maz. "But you couldn't have told me before that Jyn was alive?"

"Were you ready to hear it?" she shook her head. "You needed to see her for yourself, same as she needed to see you." 

Cassian nodded. "As usual, Maz, you are right."

"Of course I am," she said. "By the way. She said to tell you she isn't running under the name _Dora Na_."

Cassian laughed. "That's good to know. It means she's not mad at me." He winked at Maz and headed back into the _Falcon_ , eager to read the rest of the message and get in contact with the Rebellion.

And hopefully meet up with Jyn soon.

* * *

When they emerged from hyperspace over Lah'mu to the sight of a large contingent of Rebellion ships, Jyn did not give a sigh of relief. After all, she didn't know if they were being welcomed, or about to be destroyed. It all depended on if Cassian had gotten the message from Maz, and what the Rebellion decided to do about it, or if the Empire had intercepted and decided to lure them both into a trap.

She kept the ship away from the main part of the fleet. Like before, she was going to wait until they contacted her. She didn't want to give anything away.

"This is slightly ominous," Madine commented from the navigator's seat. 

"There is a 63.7 percent chance that this will end badly," Kaytoo said. "Considering they have not made contact."

"They may have decided that I'm not worth the trouble."

"No, if that were true, we'd already be dead." Jyn watched the fleet. She wondered if Cassian was out there, or if he was back on Hoth, waiting for word.

The comm crackled, and Kaytoo activated it. " _Avits Drey_ , this is Rogue Two," a familiar voice said. "Confirmation code."

Jyn nodded to Kaytoo, who transmitted the code to _Home One_. This would be the "safe" code, the one that let the Rebellion know they weren't being coerced. They had an "unsafe" one as well, along with an "unsafe" encryption code. Just in case they were compromised. 

The comm crackled again. "Confirmation code received," Wedge said. "Good to see you again, Guardian."

"You as well, Rogue Two," she replied. "I've got an interesting delivery."

"So I've been told. Rogue Squadron will escort you to coordinates being transmitted now."

"Roger that, Rogue Two."

"Coordinates received," Kaytoo said, as the flight of X-wings approached. Jyn counted them. Same number as there had been at Dantooine, which meant that Wedge was likely on board _Home One_ instead of in his fighter. "We'll see you there," she said, not letting the location slip. Kaytoo would have them, and he didn't need to speak them out loud to input them into the computer, given that he had his wrist probe extension plugged into the _Rook's_ computer.

"See you there, Guardian." A few moments later, _Home One_ shivered and disappeared into hyperspace. Most of the rest of the fleet did, leaving behind Rogue Squadron.

"Coordinates set," Kaytoo told her.

"On your mark, Rogue Leader," Jyn said into the com.

The whistle of a droid came through the com, and Kaytoo reached out and pulled the lever, sending the _Rook_ into hyperspace. "We should be there in half an hour," Kaytoo said.

"They're testing you," Madine said.

"They're testing all of us," Jyn said, turning to him. "You especially."

He nodded. "I would have done the same in their place."

They fell into silence while waiting. When they arrived at the coordinated, they emerged into empty space, no planets around. Rogue Squadron was the only thing in sight. More whistles and beeps came over the com. It sounded like Skywalker's droid Artoo. "We are to wait here," Kaytoo said.

"In case I've betrayed you to the Empire. This is not anywhere that would betray a base, and I'll bet Rogue Squadron has coordinates to escape to that their droid hasn't sent to us. Interesting using the droid instead of an actual voice." Madine nodded in approval.

"The droid is a better conversationalist," Kaytoo said.

Jyn shook her head at him. "I thought you liked me," she said.

"You, yes," Kaytoo said pointedly.

Madine chuckled, but didn't take offense at Kaytoo's pronouncement. "I doubt we'll have enough time to finish our current campaign," he said to Jyn.

She shook her head. "Probably not." Which was a shame. After she and Madine had finished their previous campaign (which she had barely won), he had suggested a three army campaign, with Jyn, Madine, and Kaytoo each taking control of armies. Jyn was enjoying playing against both Madine and Kaytoo at the same time, thinking of two fronts instead of just one. None of them seemed to have the advantage at the moment.

It was another half an hour before Artoo whistled over the comm again. Kaytoo turned back to the navicomputer. "New coordinates," he said. "We are to go on the mark."

"Controls are yours," Jyn said. Not that he hadn't been running the ship since before they got to Lah'mu, but she still liked to say it out loud so he knew she trusted him with her ship.

"What will you do, once I've been delivered?" Madine asked abruptly. "The Empire knows of you, even if they don't know much about you, but they will likely be looking for you."

"I'll find something," she said, not wanting to discuss that with Madine. She knew Guardian was likely done, if Madine was to be believed. Going back out under another name was probably out of the question. She'd have to talk to Cassian. She was too far into the Rebellion now to stop, but she didn't want to be shunted off somewhere and forgotten either.

"Hm," was Madine's only reply as they abruptly dropped back out of hyperspace. Jyn recognized the rings of Lah'mu again, and shook her head. Apparently, they'd just gone in a circle, which made sense, someone had probably stayed behind to see if the Empire would appear. Since they hadn't, this was a safe rendezvous point.

"We're being instructed to dock on the main frigate."

"Well, let's not keep them waiting," Jyn said, sitting up and helping Kaytoo approach the landing bay. It was the same one as before, far from the bridge, but too close to the engines for her liking if Madine had ill intentions.

Once they were docked, Jyn and Kaytoo locked down the _Rook_ and stood. Madine stood as well, folding his hands in front of him. Jyn let the way to the cargo ramp, Kaytoo following Madine. As the ramp lowered, she saw a large contingent of Alliance security personnel along with Admiral Ackbar and Wedge Antilles. She didn't see Cassian at all. Jyn didn't let the disappointment show on her face.

Madine came to stand at the end of the ramp. "Admiral Ackbar," he said, nodding. "I hereby surrender myself to the Rebellion, as a defector from the Empire, and offer my knowledge to the Rebellion's use."

Ackbar gestured, and the Alliance security personnel approached. Madine let them place binder on his wrists and followed them without complaint. Ackbar followed them, but Wedge waited. Once they were all gone, he approached the _Rook_.

"Good to see you two in one piece," he told Jyn and Kaytoo. "You had a lot of people worried when you went dark."

Jyn gave him a smile. "Had to make sure it wasn't an Imperial trap, and the best way to do that was to not contact the Rebellion and expose you."

"I know. We've got people waiting to debrief you on the last two weeks, if you'll follow me?" he asked.

"I wasn't aware you were now part of Alliance Intelligence," Kaytoo said.

"I'm not, and I'm not doing the debriefings. I'm just the friendly escort."

"Well, lead the way," Jyn said. The sooner this was over, the better.

* * *

An ensign escorted Jyn from her debriefing to temporary quarters on _Home One_ , telling her that Kaytoo had been given the quarters next door. She didn't volunteer information on Madine, and Jyn didn't ask. She also didn't ask about Cassian. He probably wasn't on the ship, but back on Hoth.

But half an hour after she'd settled into bed, someone knocked on her door. When she opened it, after hastily dressing, she found Cassian standing there, looking tired and worn out, but his eyes were practically devouring her. Jyn stepped back to let him in, shutting the door behind her and not objecting when he pulled her into his arms. 

"Jyn," he whispered heavily into her hair.

"Cassian," she breathed, fingers clinging to his shirt, before she rose up onto her toes to kiss him. He kissed back hungrily, and she led him to her bed, eager as he to lose themselves in one another.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally!


	13. Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jyn and Cassian take some time for themselves.

Cassian sighed contentedly, letting his fingers drift up and down Jyn's spine. Her fingers were lightly sketching patterns on his shoulder, even as her head lay on his chest, a comforting weight that he wanted to keep there.

A weight he had only felt once before, and had thought he would never feel again.

"I thought I had killed you," he said softly into the silence of the room.

"Hm?" she inquired, just as softly. Her head didn't move from his chest.

"When we got word, that you had disappeared, all I could think was that I just gotten you back, after thinking you were dead for two years, and now I had gotten you killed." He closed his eyes. "The spark went out of the universe again."

Jyn's hand closed around his shoulder. "I hated having to go dark, to do that to you," she replied quietly. "But I couldn't risk you, couldn't risk the Rebellion."

"I know. I know Madine didn't give you a chance to say anything to us. He told us that he'd hidden away on your ship."

"Kay figured it out, that we were too heavy. Then Madine came in the cockpit and announced his intention to defect." She sighed. "I didn't know if he was playing a long con or truly defecting, but I knew we would have to go dark to figure it out. Once we were two weeks in and nothing had happened, I felt it was safe enough to get word to the Rebellion." She rested her chin on his chest, looking at him directly. "I'm surprised that you came yourself, given there wasn't a lot of time between when I gave the message to Maz and the second rendezvous point at Lah'mu." Her eyes, and her reaction last night, told him that she didn't mind the surprise. 

He chuckled. "I wasn't on Hoth. Han and Chewie had kidnapped me and Wedge before taking off on what was supposed to be a scouting run. Really, Han objected to the Council wanting to wait on going after you, and figured getting me drunk and kidnapping me would give him an edge in finding you."

"I think I may need to see drunk Cassian Andor," Jyn laughed. 

"I yelled at Chirrut," Cassian admitted sheepishly. "I swear I heard him telling me that 'all is as the Force wills it'. I wasn't happy with that, considering I thought he meant your death."

"I wouldn't be happy with that either, in your spot." Jyn sighed, resting her head on his chest again. "Madine says that Guardian is compromised. It's how he found me to use me to defect - Imperial Intelligence knew of Guardian, the _Rook_ , everything." She paused. "I don't think it's a good idea for me to go out as Guardian for a while. Or ever, if what he says is true."

Cassian ran a hand up to play with Jyn's hair. Her words sent a rush of relief through him. He had been worried about breaking that to her. He knew that Jyn valued the freedom that came from being Guardian. "Madine told us. So far, he doesn't seem to have held anything back. And Kay had made recordings of Madine's interactions with the two of you, so that helps to judge his sincerity." He sighed. "I agree, Guardian is compromised right now. But Jyn," he turned his head to look down at her. When she didn't look up at him, he carefully shifted them until they were on their sides, facing each other, two of his fingers stroking her face. "I will support whatever it is you want to do, my love. If you don't want to stay with the Rebellion, I will figure something out for what I can do outside of them." 

She shook her head. "Cassian, I can't take you away from your work. You're needed."

"I need _you_ , Jyn. I lost you twice and I don't want to go through that a third time."

She stared at him for a long moment. Then she reached out and pulled him into a kiss, turning them until he was on top of her, and he was no longer interested in saying anything other than her name.

* * *

Jyn did not want to leave the bed. Cassian shifted as he woke, his arm tightening around her ribs. She smiled and leaned back into him. "Hey," she said softly. 

"Hi," he replied, nuzzling her hair. 

"I want to stay with the Rebellion," she told him, vocalizing the decision she had come to just before falling asleep in his arms last night. "I just don't know what I would do."

Cassian pulled her closer against him. "We'll find a place for you, Jyn," he said. "Wedge _might_ have dropped a hint about Rogue Squadron and an X-wing cockpit for you."

She considered it, flying a fighter with Wedge and the rest of the squadron. She liked Wedge, and she liked flying. But she wasn't sure that being on active flight duty was what she wanted at this time. 

"I don't think I want to be in the field again, not right now."

She felt his surprise, but he didn't say anything at first. He just held her.

"I can't say I'll be unhappy if you are on base more often," he finally admitted. 

"You just want Kaytoo back," she joked. 

He huffed out a laugh, nuzzling her again. "We can share him," he told her. 

"I'm sure he'll have something to say about that."

"A great many things," he chuckled, just before he kissed the side of her neck. "I have to leave soon. We're taking a long way back to Echo Base while I and a few others interrogate Madine, and I'll need to check in with base before we start the interrogation again."

Jyn moved back against him. "Do you need to leave right away?"

He hissed in a breath. "I might be persuaded to stay longer," he murmured, his hand sliding up her torso. 

Jyn shifted until she was facing him. He rolled onto his back and pulled her on top of him. She stared down into his brown eyes, as he reached up and cupped the side of her face, his affection and desire for her openly displayed in those eyes, and in the smile on his lips, the way his thumb slowly stroked over her cheekbone. "I love you," he said softly.

She turned her head to press her lips to his palm before leaning down to give him a careful kiss. "I love you too."

* * *

Kaytoo turned his head as Jyn entered the _Rook_. "I trust you had a good time last night."

"Yes," she said with a bright smile. "But if you want details, you are out of luck."

"I do not need any details. But please tell me you have been taking precautions."

"Yes, we have been." She patted Kaytoo on the arm as she stopped next to him. "The Rebellion hasn't unloaded yet?"

"The deck chief said it could wait until we reached Hoth."

"Hm." She looked around the cargo area. The Rebellion's supplies were the only items in the hold. "It'll be odd to see the _Rook_ completely empty."

"Will we be taking off again once it is?"

Jyn looked at him. "I think, given Madine's intel that the Empire knows who Gaila Theron and the _Rook_ is, that staying grounded for a while would be best for both of us." She gave Kaytoo a wry smile. "Guardian has been used by the Empire once. If Madine is legitimately defecting, I don't want to give the Empire a second chance to use me."

"You don't think he is legitimate?"

"I think the Empire might want to place someone long term undercover in the Rebellion. But that's Cassian's job, to determine if he's truly on our side now."

"What will you do, then?"

Jyn settled onto one of the cargo crates. "I don't know. Cassian said that Wedge made an offer of joining Rogue Squadron, but I really don't feel that's right for me at this moment." She shrugged. "What will you do?"

"I do not know. I suppose that may depend on you and Cassian."

Jyn nodded. "I'm fairly certain Cassian will want your help in Intelligence."

"I will have to talk to him."

They fell quiet, listening to the sounds of the hanger around them. Jyn finally sighed, needing something to do. She didn't feel comfortable wandering around _Home One_ , as she wasn't quite part of the Rebellion yet. "Want to start a new campaign?" she asked Kay. 

"Only if I can have an entire droid army."

Jyn tilted her head. "Clone Wars?"

"We have not done a campaign from that era in a while."

She grinned. "You're on."

* * *

Cassian found them in the _Rook_ 's lounge several hours later. He settled next to Jyn and watched as Kaytoo advanced his army, taking out several of Jyn's tanks, leaving her with mostly ground fighters against Kay's tanks. "That looks disastrous," he said. 

"Battle's not over yet," Jyn said with a smirk as she surveyed the field.

"Jyn does not concede unless all other options are lost, even if she should." Kaytoo sounded disgruntled. 

"Kay, if I conceded, you wouldn't have the fun of beating me thoroughly." Jyn started moving her pieces.

"Two more victories and I will be ahead of you."

"That assumes you win," Jyn said with a smile as she rolled her dice and Kay's pieces started taking damage. Kay made a noise of disgust. 

Cassian sat back with a smile he couldn't control and watched as the two of them continued to decimate each other's armies, glad to have his two favorite people back. 

If he was lucky, he'd have them at his side for a long time.


	14. Welcome Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"We probably should." He smiled. "You looked good up there. Like you belong."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Incompletesong for the beta work. And the encouragement.

Mon Mothma, Princess Leia, and other members of the Alliance council met aboard _Home One_ to discuss Madine. Cassian, Jyn, and Kaytoo had been called before them to give their thoughts. Madine himself had been called, though only certain members were visible to him. Kay had stayed to provide security, but Cassian wasn't sure if that was for the council or Madine. 

Now, Cassian was back in the room with the council, waiting as they gave their verdict on Madine. Kay stood behind the former Imperial general. Jyn hadn't been invited, but that hadn't upset her. 

"The council has decided to welcome you into our ranks, General Madine," Mon Mothma said. "And we are naming you as General over Alliance ground forces, reporting to both General Rieekan as head of Alliance Military and General Andor as head of Alliance Intelligence. We will revisit that reporting structure at a later time," she added.

Cassian didn't react, though he was surprised. Still, it made sense. If Madine was an Imperial spy, then oversight by Intelligence was prudent. And Rieekan could use the help with the ground forces, as he had the help of Admiral Ackbar over the naval forces. 

Madine gave the assembled group a nod. "I appreciate the council's support, and I pledge myself to the Rebellion."

The council left, except for Princess Leia, who came down to talk to Madine. "We have a few things to discuss once we get to the base, and I'm sure General Andor has information for you as well."

"I would like to make a request for my staff, if possible, Your Highness," Madine said, surprising both of them.

Leia glanced at Cassian. "I'm willing to entertain your request, but I make no promises."

"I have spent the past two weeks with Captain Theron and had the opportunity to see her strategic and tactical skills in action, both with how she handled my presence and in war games. I do not know why she isn't already planning ground campaigns for the Rebellion, but she is good at managing them with minimal resources. If she is agreeable, I would like to have her on my staff. I think it would benefit the Rebellion."

Cassian blinked at that. He knew Jyn and Madine had been playing Jyn's tactical games to pass the time on the _Rook_ , but not that Madine had held her in that high esteem. But it would give Jyn a position in the Rebellion if she wanted it, one that wasn't likely to require her to be in the field. 

One that would likely have her on the same base as him. He had to admit he liked that idea.

"General Andor, your thoughts?" Leia was asking.

"Captain Theron's position has been compromised, according to General Madine, and from speaking with her, I know she is aware of that and she has expressed a desire to stay with the Rebellion in a new position. I think if she wants to accept the position, it would be a good fit."

Leia nodded. "I will convey the offer to Captain Theron." 

"Thank you," Madine said. The princess left the room, and Madine turned to Cassian. "General Andor, I realize that you have no reason to trust me, but I am sincere."

"We'll see," he said, unwilling to be too welcoming. "You treated Captain Theron well, so that is in your favor. But asking for her on your staff... that better not be to use her again, General." He gave Madine a flat stare.

Madine gave him a small smile. "Understood, General."

"Good. Now let's discuss the situation on Corellia."

He turned to the tactical map and Madine joined him, seemingly glad to get to work.

* * *

Leia found Jyn Erso standing on the ladder to Wedge Antilles' X-wing, talking to the pilot. She watched the two for a moment, smiling as she realized Wedge was giving Jyn a quick rundown on the controls of an X-wing. Probably trying to recruit her into Rogue Squadron. 

"Excuse me, Captain Antilles," Leia called up as they paused in their discussion. "I was hoping to borrow Miss Erso for a moment."

They both looked down at her, then Jyn turned to Wedge. "Another time?"

"Any time," Wedge replied. "Even if you don't join us, it doesn't hurt to be familiar with the controls, just in case," he added. "Offer stands for you, too, Your Highness."

Leia smiled as Jyn climbed down the ladder. "I'll keep that in mind, Captain."

"The _Rook_ should be empty," Jyn said. "Kaytoo is bothering the droid repair shop for maintenance."

Leia nodded and let the woman lead her to the ship she called home. A ship given to her by Draven as a bribe to leave, to serve the Rebellion on his terms, and not her own. He had taken the choice to stay from her, in the worst possible way, and Leia was not going to make that mistake now. If Jyn wanted to leave, Cassian would have to deal with it, no matter what he'd conveyed about Jyn's thoughts on the matter. 

Inside the small lounge area, Jyn turned to Leia. "How can I help you, Your Highness?"

"Please, call me Leia," she said. "I don't like to stand on ceremony too much anymore."

Jyn nodded. "Leia. I want to apologize. My father... his work..."

"The Empire destroyed my planet, Captain Erso," Leia said gently. "Your father did what he could to delay the project, and ensure that it could be stopped. I don't hold it against you, especially not when you retrieved the plans. But I appreciate your sympathy," she added, knowing this had to be eating at the older woman. "Please, accept my apologies for what the Rebellion cost you, with your father, and more recently." Because while many might say that Galen Erso had made his bed, and while Orson Krennic might have been ready to kill Erso, the fact remained that the Alliance's bombing run had directly led to Erso's death.

Jyn nodded. "Thank you," she said. She gestured Leia to the lounge seating area, taking a seat opposite her. "I don't think that's what you wanted to talk about, though."

"I wanted to discuss your place in the Rebellion. I've had a request for you to be placed on someone's staff, but before any decisions are made, I wanted you to have a say. Because while a lot of people are talking about you, your voice hasn't been heard yet."

Jyn looked surprised. "I'm not officially a member of the Rebellion."

Leia smiled sheepishly. "After I authorized Han's private mission to rescue you, I _may_ have put you on the Alliance's roster with a rank, to ensure that if anyone protested his actions, he was retrieving a valuable member of the Alliance, which you are. And even if you didn't stay in a planet-side posting, having rank would ensure that landing on Alliance worlds would be easier for you if needed."

"So I'm Captain Erso in truth, not just because of my ship?" Jyn asked. Her expression gave nothing about her opinions away. 

"Actually, in recognition for your past services at Scarif, as well as your service as Guardian, and considering the ranks granted after Scarif and Yavin IV to others, I felt a promotion was in order. Congratulations, Commander Erso."

She blinked at that. "Commander?" Leia could see her running the rank structure through her head. "That's not just one promotion, that's two."

"Given the intel and services that Guardian has provided over the years, plus this latest service of bringing in an Imperial defector without compromising the Rebellion, I'd say the rank is earned." She grinned. "If it makes you feel better, I am promoting Captain Antilles as well. He's overdue and the council has agreed. So if we have to have a formal ceremony, you won't be the only one getting rank pips."

"I don't need a formal ceremony," Jyn said quickly. "It's not something I've ever really wanted."

"True, but some of the military sticklers may insist on it."

Jyn sighed, then shrugged. "I'll suffer through it then." She looked up at Leia. "You said that someone requested me to be on their staff?"

"Yes. But Jyn, I want to make sure you know that you do not have to accept it. I know that Intel says that Guardian is compromised, but if you want to go back out there, or even leave the Rebellion altogether, that is always an option. I don't want you to feel like you have to stay. The Rebellion screwed you over once, and I'm not going to let us do that to you again."

Jyn sat forward, clasping her hands between her knees. "What I said to you before still stands; I like being Guardian, and I think Guardian is needed. Despite the reasons why I became Guardian being proven wrong, much to my relief," she added with a smile to Leia, "I still wanted to be Guardian. But I hate being used more than anything. The Rebellion has used me, and Madine just used me. Apparently the Empire wanted to use me as well; Madine just got there first. If they had known who I actually am," she shook her head and sat back. "I want to stay with the Rebellion. I don't think I want to be in the field. Not saying I wouldn't be happy to take the _Rook_ out if the Rebellion needed it, but I've been running for two years since Scarif, and a lot of years before that. Seems like maybe it's time to try not running for a while."

Leia nodded. "If that's what you want, we should be able to accommodate you." She leaned forward. "The Council has decided to accept General Madine as the Alliance General for ground operations, reporting to both General Rieekan as the head of Alliance Military, and General Andor as the head of Alliance Intelligence. The latter mostly to ensure we are keeping an eye on Madine."

"Seems reasonable," Jyn said.

"Madine requested you, well, Captain Theron, on his staff if possible. It seems you made an impression on him. How did he put it? He wasn't sure why you weren't already planning ground campaigns for the Rebellion, but he thought you were good at managing them with minimal resources. Which, to be honest, is what the Rebellion has."

"I was raised by Saw Gererra. I'm used to minimal resources when planning raids. I just never really thought of doing that for the Rebellion." Jyn tilted her head. "I'd be stationed on Hoth?"

"Yes. We'd have room for the _Rook_ in the hanger, and yes, we would ensure K-2SO had a place."

"Kay will find his own place I suspect," Jyn said. "I don't think any of us could stop him."

"No, I don't think we could," Leia laughed. 

"I'm in, but I want to be the one to tell him who I really am. I know Jyn Erso died on Corellia, but I think if I'm not going to be Guardian, I want to be me again. At least inside the Rebellion. The rest of the galaxy might still need to think I'm dead until the Empire is gone."

"I think that's a good idea, for you to tell him. He and General Andor are still in the briefing room, going over some intel, if you'd like to tell him now."

Jyn stood. "I think I will. General Andor can back up my story, at least."

Standing, Leia held out a hand. "Welcome back to the Rebellion, Commander Erso."

"Thank you, Your Highness. Glad to be back."

* * *

Jyn hesitated on the edge of the briefing room, watching Cassian and Madine ( _"You could call me Crix," he'd said one night, about a week into their trip. Jyn had shaken her head. "Not sure we're on a first name basis yet, General."_ ) as they gestured at the holo map, reviewing the ground situation on Corellia. 

"This is the hardest place to hit, but if we want to obtain the weaponry they are building, we need to get in."

Taking that as a cue, Jyn walked up behind the two men. "We need more surveillance on that then," she said, noticing that neither man startled. She hadn't been trying to surprise them, though she wasn't sure either of them would show it if she had. "If we're going to send in troops to raid weaponry, better intel would be preferred. I wouldn't want to try to plan a raid just based on this," she nodded at the holo map.

"I agree," Madine said. "Unless General Andor has more intel he hasn't shared."

"I have people on the ground getting intel," Cassian said with a smile. "But I figured it didn't hurt to go over what we had already to see if General Madine had any insight."

"Unfortunately, this is an area where I don't have any, other than more intel is needed. While I'm from Corellia, I haven't been there in a while, and I don't do weapon factory storage inspections."

"Still, any insight is good insight." Cassian looked at Jyn. "Has Her Highness spoken with you, Captain Theron?" he asked.

"She told me of General Madine's offer. And I feel there is intel that the general needs before I make a decision on the position." She met Cassian's eyes, and saw that he understood what she was referring to.

"Should I step out so you can talk first?" Madine asked.

"No," Cassian said. "I know what the captain is referring to already. I can step out if you'd like," he said to her.

"No, please, stay, as you can back me up," she said, turning to Madine. "I don't know if the Empire ever found out my real name," she began.

"The information I saw had Captain Gaila Theron as Guardian," he said slowly.

Jyn smiled. "But I wasn't born Gaila Theron. I didn't become Gaila Theron until after Alderaan was destroyed by the Empire. I was born on Vallt, as Jyn Erso, daughter of Galen and Lyra Erso."

Madine looked at her steadily. "Galen Erso, the scientist behind the Death Star. The one that Lord Vader suspected was behind the weakness in the weapon."

Jyn smiled. "He was. And he told me how to get the plans to find them."

"You were behind the attack on Scarif."

"Yes. And we got the plans." She couldn't help the note of smugness in her voice.

Madine shook his head. "My superiors asked me to review the reports that came out of Scarif before Tarkin destroyed the Citadel. You had barely a day between the attack on Eadu and the attack on Scarif, yet somehow managed to invade with, what, an entire company, and then air support?"

Jyn looked over at Cassian, smiling at him. He smiled back, with a tinge of sadness for those they had lost. "Make ten men feel like a hundred," he said.

"You did that with _ten_ men?" Madine asked, disbelievingly. 

"A little closer to twenty, but yes, a small and possibly unsanctioned invasion before reinforcements arrived. And we were in the Citadel itself before they did arrive," Jyn said. "But it cost us. Very few got out alive of those that made it to the surface."

"It was costly on both sides, in the end," Cassian sighed. "And it appears they may be trying to build another one."

Jyn turned to look at him. " _What?_ "

"They don't have the weapon systems near functional yet," Madine said. "But there have been rumors that there's a second superstructure being built somewhere. Without the original plans, they're a bit behind, and obviously, without your father, they are very behind on the array."

"But they're still doing it," Jyn said, her guilt over Alderaan rising to the surface. "They could still destroy another planet."

"Which is why, with Madine's intel, and our network, we will stop it first," Cassian said. His hand twitched, like he wanted to pull her into a hug, but wasn't sure about doing it in front of Madine.

"I have no intention of letting that happen again. That's one of the reasons I defected."

Jyn took a breath. "Okay," she said. She turned to Madine. "I think we got off track, but yes, if you're okay with me not being Captain Theron, then I would be honored to be on your staff."

"Captain Erso then."

Jyn smiled. "I was informed by Princess Leia that I've been promoted in the past two years. Twice. Without being a member of the Rebellion," she added with a shrug. "It's Commander Erso." She caught Cassian's grin out of the corner of her eye, but didn't call him on it. She looked at Madine. "So, where do we get started?"

"With this," he said, gesturing to the holo-map. "I've always found it useful to have the bones of an assault planned that can be refined once the intel comes in.

"Then let's plan a raid," Jyn said with a smile, looking between the two men.

"Let's," Cassian said, matching her smile.

* * *

Cassian smirked all the way through Jyn and Wedge's promotion ceremony, knowing how much Jyn did not want it. She only went through with it to see Wedge become Major Antilles. Luke Skywalker grinned as he pinned the new rank plaque onto his friend's uniform jacket. 

Leia herself pinned the rank plaque on Jyn, detailing Jyn's work in aid of the Rebellion to the crowd. Jyn did her best to smile, but Cassian knew she wasn't one for the pomp and circumstance of the ceremony.

They'd have to elope if they ever got married.

That had him pausing as Leia was introducing Madine to the assembled rebels at Echo base. He and Jyn had barely gotten together, and he was already thinking marriage?

But the idea of not having Jyn at his side brought back the dark times of the two years where they thought the other dead. He didn't want to go back there, but he knew this was a war, and anything could happen. He wanted that connection to Jyn, but he had no idea if she would want it as well.

As the ceremony broke up, and Jyn came over to his side, her commander's pips gleaming under the lights. "General," she said.

"Commander," he replied.

"Has Kay made a decision yet?" she asked.

"He's still weighing his options." Kay had been offered a spot in Madine's staff as well, along with Cassian's.

"I suspect he'll try to find a way to do both. Should just make him a liaison between our units."

"We probably should." He smiled. "You looked good up there. Like you belong."

Jyn moved closer, seemingly not caring of the looks they were getting. "I finally felt like I was home," she admitted.

Cassian couldn't help pulling her into a kiss, not caring that the entire base was watching. "Welcome home."


	15. The End...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"General Andor." The warm, familiar, and much loved voice came from the doorway of the room._

_Four Years after Scarif_

Cassian and Kay, along with their staff, combed through all the intercepted Imperial transmissions, sending out the relevant data to Admiral Ackbar and General Madine. Jyn was on the bridge at Madine's side, the two of them working with Ackbar and Calrissian to try to minimize the damage to the Rebellion fleet while trying to avoid the unexpectedly operational Death Star. Cassian knew Jyn had to be reacting badly to that. He didn't know how his people had missed the fact that the weapon was working, but they had. Or the Empire had deliberately laid a trap. He wouldn't put it past them.

"The shield is down!" came the call, as the tenor of the transmissions changed, the Imperials realizing their new Death Star was vulnerable.

Half an hour later, it was over, Calrissian and Wedge having destroyed the Death Star while Han, Leia, and their team had destroyed the Imperial outpost on Endor. The fleet began chasing down the Imperial stragglers that weren't ready to concede the fight, but by the time night fell on the forest moon, the battle was won, and the Emperor and Darth Vader were dead.

Cassian sat down heavily on one of the chairs in the communications room where he, Kay, and his team had been working. It was over. There would still be fighting with Moffs and others that didn't want to believe it, but the Empire was done. Twenty-two years of his life spent fighting, against Separatists and Imperials alike, was finished.

"General Andor." The warm, familiar, and much loved voice came from the doorway of the room. Cassian looked up.

"Colonel Erso." Jyn had stayed with the Rebellion, and had been promoted for her work in Madine's unit. Now she came over and sat down next to him, stunned disbelief on her face.

"It's over," she said.

"It is," Cassian replied. "I never thought--"

"Me either."

He looked around, seeing his staff, and Kay, watching them. "Come on, I need to report to Admiral Ackbar," he said, standing. His injuries twinged from being on his feet during the battle, though they had improved once the Alliance was no longer based on Hoth. Jyn slipped an arm around his waist, subtly supporting him as they made their way toward the bridge. Part way there, Cassian steered Jyn into an empty room. He pulled her close, resting his head against hers. She let both arms slide around him, sighing contentedly.

"I've been fighting for so long, I can't even think of what comes next," she murmured after a moment.

"We could get married," Cassian said, surprising himself.

Jyn didn't stiffen or pull away, but she didn't respond immediately. Cassian wondered if he should apologize for bad timing when Jyn finally sighed.

"I am not becoming Jyn Andor." 

He smiled. "I can change my name to Cassian Erso."

She pulled back and blinked at him, and he laughed. "It's not tradition on Fest that spouses have the same name. Usually, it's only done when there are certain family or property issues involved in the marriage. But I don't care if you are Jyn Erso or Jyn Andor or Gaila Theron-Andor-Erso." He took her hand and brought it up to his lips. "I just want you, Jyn, and I want the whole galaxy to know that you chose to be at my side, as I choose to be at yours, until the end of time."

Jyn tugged him down into a kiss. "Then yes, I will marry you." She gave him a mischievous grin. "Think Ackbar would do it, as Admiral of the ship?"

"What, now?" he asked.

"Why not?"

"Because Leia and Han and Luke and Wedge will be unhappy if we don't at least invite them."

"You have a point. But I am not having some overblown ceremony," she warned him. "You, me, Kay, and our friends."

"Sounds perfect." He leaned in to kiss her again.

"Well, at least I am invited," Kaytoo said, and they broke the kiss to look at the droid who stood in the doorway. "General Madine asked me to see what was keeping you two. Shall I tell him there was a marriage proposal?"

"No, we'll tell him ourselves," Jyn said.

"And why wouldn't you be invited, Kay?" Cassian asked as they walked toward the door, his arm around his soon-to-be wife's shoulders. Jyn's arm was around his waist again.

"The only problem is which one of us you'll stand as Best Droid for," Jyn added.

Kaytoo looked between them, eyes whirring as they focused. "It is too bad that most societies don't allow droids to officiate, as that would clearly be the best option to support both of you."

Cassian and Jyn looked at each other, both seeing what the other was thinking. Jyn nodded to Cassian, who smiled and turned to the droid. "Find out which societies do, Kay," Cassian began.

"And we'll let you perform the ceremony," Jyn finished.

"I find it hard to tell when you are joking," Kaytoo said.

"Not joking. You've been there for us all along," Jyn told him. "Why shouldn't you get this honor?"

"I am a strategic analysis droid, not a protocol droid."

"We wouldn't want a protocol droid," Jyn said.

"We want a friend to perform it," Cassian told him. "The three of us, we're all that's left of _Rogue One_. It seems right that no matter who observes the wedding, you perform it."

Kaytoo sighed. "I estimate an 89.45 percent chance of argument against my performing the ceremony."

"Let them argue," Jyn said as they reached the bridge. "That's never stopped the three of us before."

Cassian looked at Kaytoo. "They're not going to change our minds, Kay."

"They will," he grumbled. "But I'll do the research anyway."

The two humans shared a conspiratorial grin and moved across the bridge to meet with Ackbar and Madine about the beginning of the end of the Empire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know people wanted to see Jyn and Madine working together but this story was finished before the last chapter was posted, and Jyn and Cassian were very insistent. I may do side stories to this fic, because I do have some ideas of Draven's POV and Madine's, but they just never quite fit into this story itself.


	16. ... and the Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"All is as the Force wills it," he murmured. ___

_Three Months after Endor_

The Outer Rim planet wasn't much to look at, but the temperate weather was good for an outdoor ceremony. Luke stood next to Cassian, Wedge next to Jyn, and while Han had jokingly offered to give the bride away, Jyn had shut him down with a sharp reminder that she was her own person and no one was giving her to anyone. He stood between Leia and Chewie now, smiling at the bride and groom. Ackbar, Madine, and Mon Mothma also stood in the audience. The ceremony would be short, and they'd all be leaving quickly. Having so much of the New Republic in one place was dangerous, but none of the attendees wanted to miss this.

"Dearly Beloved," Kaytoo began, reading from the data pad. He'd found a society that let droids officiate marriages, and none of their friends had argued, much to Kay's surprise. "We are gathered here today to join these two organic beings together in marriage."

The ceremony was short, vows said, rings exchanged. Kaytoo finally looked between them. "By the power vested in me by the government of this planet, and as your friend, I now pronounce you married. You may kiss, if you must."

"Oh, we must," Cassian murmured before kissing her, taking away Jyn's laughter as she kissed him for the first time as her husband. Their friends applauded, and they turned to face them, to thank them for coming.

Jyn's breath caught as she saw the translucent blue-tinted figures behind the others. Her father and mother, both looking happy. A man and a woman she recognized as Cassian's parents from his holo of their wedding. And next to her father, Bodhi, Chirrut, and Baze, all of them smiling widely as they applauded. None of them attempted to speak, but she could feel their love and approval even as their forms faded away, leaving one lone blue-tinged figure, in Alliance uniform. General Draven, who looked between the two of them, and nodded slowly, approvingly, with a small smile before he, too, faded away.

Cassian turned to her, and she knew he had seen them, too. She pulled him into another kiss. "All is as the Force wills it," he murmured.

"Trust the Force," she replied.

"If the two of you are quite done," Kaytoo said, "we do need to get back to the fleet, and you can engage in your newlywed physical indulgences on the _Rook_ during the honeymoon."

They broke apart, laughing, as the others came up to congratulate them before they headed for their ships. Jyn laced her fingers with Cassian's as they stepped onto the _Rook_ 's cargo ramp, and they turned to look out at the planet once again before looking at each other, not needing words to say what they were thinking.

_Welcome home._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for coming with me on this wild ride. This story started out as Jyn and Kaytoo buddy roadtrip idea and just took off from there.
> 
> And while I know in the movies we only see Jedi as Force Ghosts, well, Chirrut insisted that he was going to be at Jyn and Cassian's wedding, and then started dragging people along with him, as he does.


End file.
